


Satellite

by haelpack



Series: Satellite [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Also Michael has two moms, Bullying, Child Neglect, Internet Friends AU, Long-Distance Friendship, M/M, Pining, Tumblr
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-01-02
Packaged: 2019-02-15 19:35:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 29,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13037949
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/haelpack/pseuds/haelpack
Summary: Jeremy Heere has exactly one good thing in his life, his best friend Michael. It's just unfortunate that Michael lives in New Jersey while Jeremy is stuck in BFE, Michigan.Their friendship is confined to Tumblr and memes, so how could Jeremy not fall in love?





	1. Happy Belated Birthday

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case it isn't clear, here are the Tumblr URLs
> 
> Michael: WakaWaka
> 
> Jeremy: Galaxians
> 
> Also, this is my first BMC fic, so any feedback or responses are appreciated!

Jeremy opened his laptop and instinctively typed in “tumblr”, even though he was supposed to be looking up resources for his research paper. Oops. By the time his dashboard had loaded, he’d decided that fifteen minutes couldn’t hurt his grade _that_ much, right? He’d finish the research paper. Never mind that it was due in second hour the next morning and he’d yet to actually start writing it. He’d get it done.

Immediately, he noticed a message in the Tumblr messenger. Without meaning to, he broke out into a grin. He clicked on it and up popped a new message. It was from his best friend (well, only friend, but let’s not dwell on that, okay) Michael.

**WakaWaka** : check it out man!

Underneath the message was a picture of a tan arm. Pac Man was near the crook of the elbow, his mouth open as if he was about to eat the three dots lining the rest of Michael’s forearm.

**Galaxians** : you got it!! i can’t believe ur moms let u get an actual tattoo. mine would kill me just for suggesting it.

Luckily for Jeremy, Michael was online already (when wasn’t he?) and responded instantly.

**WakaWaka** : well…….

**Galaxians** : u did ask before u got it done, didn’t u

**WakaWaka** : oh i asked. they just both said no

**WakaWaka** : but i got a hookup at spencer’s gifts who has a hookup at this tattoo store in the city. they didn’t even ask for id!!

Jeremy shook his head in disbelief. He ran a hand through his curls, all the stress of the day melting away as he talked to Michael.

He’d met Michael on Tumblr about six months ago, right when he’d made a new account. The guy that bullied him at school had found his old one and had posted some of his more embarrassing personal posts around the school. Jeremy had been really upset when he had to give up his old URL, pacsmanswka, but he’d done what he had to do. Now he kept no personal indicators on his blog at all. If Derek or one of his stupid cronies found his blog, they’d have no way of knowing it belonged to Jeremy.

But luckily for him, the lack of personality on his blog hadn’t stopped Michael from messaging him just to rave about how awesome Jeremy’s new URL was. Jeremy had to admit, it was pretty cool. But the two had bonded over their love of ancient, out-of-print video games and comic books, and thus their friendship was born. Jeremy had even sent Michael a picture of him to “prove he wasn’t some forty-year-old loser in his mom’s basement”. Jeremy had pointed out that Michael was the loser living in his moms’ basement. Michael had responded with the middle finger, as well as saying it wasn’t quite so sad given the fact that he was only sixteen.

Jeremy would never say it out loud, but Michael was kind of the one good thing in his life. He didn’t really have friends at school (he told his mom he did, when she ever thought to ask, but it was always a lie) and his mom was always working or out with her co-workers or out with… who knows. The point is, she was never around. And when she was, she was usually harping on him about his grades or his messy room or how he’d eaten ramen for the past six days. So Michael was all Jeremy really had.

**Galaxians** : how long do u think u can hide it from ur moms tho

**WakaWaka** : eh i wear long sleeves most of the time anyway. i got until summer at least

**Galaxians** : and then?

**WakaWaka** : then i’ll just be like ohh sorry but i’ve had it for like five months now so you can’t be mad

**Galaxians** : i don’t think that’s gonna work dude

**WakaWaka** : it’s not like they’ll be able to do anything about it

**WakaWaka** : btw did you see the post i tagged you in?

**Galaxians** : gimme a sec

Jeremy went to his notifications to find the post Michael was talking about. His chest felt warm and happy whenever Michael tagged him in anything. There was a certain rush he got when Michael saw something, even a stupid meme like this post was, and thought of him. The fact that Michael ever thought of him when they weren’t actively talking kind of blew his mind, if he was being honest.

He chuckled at the stupid meme, like he did every time (Michael knew exactly the sorts of things that made Jeremy laugh) and reblogged it.

He searched for a moment and sent one back to Michael through the messenger in response.

**WakaWaka** : aslkdhfkjlfjldfkjldjglkjdfl

**WakaWaka** : how have i not seen that before fr

Jeremy laughed out loud. He was about to make a joke about Michael living in a perpetual cloud of weed smoke when his bedroom door opened abruptly.

His mother was a poised woman, the kind that didn’t look like a hair was out of place. Jeremy supposed she was pretty, except for the fact that she always looked like she’d smelled something awful. She stood, an imposing figure, in his doorway. Her arms were crossed as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

“What are you doing, locked in your room?” She asked. Her voice gave away nothing and that put Jeremy on edge. In two seconds flat, he opened a new tab and pulled up a random journal article.

“Homework. I have a paper due tomorrow.” Jeremy turned on his bed so he was facing his mother head on, and so she couldn’t see what was on his laptop. Just in case.

His mom pursed her lips. “A paper on what?”

“The power struggle in The Scarlet Letter,” Jeremy replied. He held up his copy of _The Scarlet Letter_ as evidence. 

“Why didn’t you mention a paper?” She asked, looking almost as if she were hurt to be excluded from her son’s life.

_I haven’t seen you in a week_ , Jeremy thought bitterly. Out loud, he said, “I kind of forgot about it. I have a lot I gotta do tonight, so…” He hoped she’d pick up on the clue and leave him alone.

Instead, she shook her head, huffing. “You need to be more responsible, Jeremy! You may only be in tenth grade, but the grades you get now will affect what college you get into. You need to use your head and think.”

Jeremy blinked. “I’m in eleventh grade.”

There was a pregnant pause. “What?”

“I’m in eleventh grade,” Jeremy repeated. He watched as his mother’s face turned blotchy and red, just like his did whenever he was humiliated or ashamed.

“Of course you are,” she bit out. “Just- get off that damn computer and write your paper.” She turned and stalked down the hall, leaving his bedroom door wide open.

“I kind of need the computer to write my paper,” he called.

“Well, fine then!” She shouted. He heard a door slam and the bad feeling pooled in his gut again. He went back to the Tumblr tab. Michael hadn’t responded, clearly waiting for Jeremy to say something.

**Galaxians** : sorry, my mom just came in….

**WakaWaka** : dude is everything alright?

Jeremy’s fingers hovered over the keys. What was he supposed to say? How he wanted his mom to be around when she wasn’t, but the second she was actually there all he wanted was for her to go away? How his mom was more absent than his estranged father, yet she was the one who threw a fit whenever she realized she knew nothing about her son’s life? How he wished she would actually show some interest in him?

**Galaxians** : she’s just…. a lot. i wish i had one of ur moms instead of mine

**WakaWaka** : that’d be… weird. but i get what you mean. i wish you could come hide out in my basement or something

**Galaxians** : i could kick ur ass at aotd in person

**WakaWaka** : you beat me ONE TIME!!! thats ONE compared to my 107 times i’ve beaten you!

**Galaxians** : u kept count? aw micah i didn’t know u cared so much

Michael didn’t respond right away. Jeremy tried (and failed) not to read into that. Michael was usually one of those people who responded at the drop of a hat, but it seemed that whenever Jeremy teased him (read: tried and failed to flirt with him), he took a few minutes to respond. Jeremy knew this had to mean Michael didn’t like the flirting, knew he needed to keep a lid on it if he wanted to keep his best friend, but it was hard when his best friend was Michael and it was so easy to tease and flirt and Michael was just so cute and-

**WakaWaka** : i gotta keep your big head in check, don’t i? 

Jeremy breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn’t fucked up. This time, at least.

**WakaWaka** : also, micah?

He spoke too soon.

**Galaxians** : uh typo sorry

**WakaWaka** : haha sure it was. dw it’s cute

And _how_ was Jeremy not supposed to read into that?

—

Jeremy was half asleep in school the next day. He’d stayed online way longer than he’d meant to- but he just couldn’t find it in him to say bye to Michael and get working. So he didn’t start his seven page research paper until it was eleven o’clock at night and Michael had signed off to go to bed. He hadn’t finished his paper until four o’clock in the morning, and then his alarm went off at six.

Jeremy sat in his English class, chin resting in his hand, and started to nod off. Something sharp stabbed him in the back, making him jump and yelp.

“Yes, Jeremy?” Mrs. Trombly said, staring him down from the whiteboard. “Did you have something to add?”

Jeremy heard snickering behind him and mumbled, “No.”

“You’re lucky you have me,” Derek whispered once Mrs. Trombly went back to lecturing. “You’d have gotten detention for sleeping.” He stabbed Jeremy with his pencil again for good measure. Jeremy bit his lip to keep from cursing.

English was the worst class of the day, despite how Jeremy actually liked reading classic literature and was actually good at understanding old writing styles. It was the only class that he had with Derek, though, so that pretty much ruined it. Especially since Derek’s last name was Heron, which meant he was perpetually seated behind Jeremy. Yeah, Derek loved to torment him in the hallway and at lunch, but he seemed to get the biggest kick when doing it in class. 

Jeremy had come to hate English class. He found himself wishing he could talk to Michael. He wondered how Michael would deal with a bully like Derek. Maybe he wouldn’t be able to do anything but try to intercept Jeremy before he could bump into Derek.

Jeremy had thought more than once about asking Michael to exchange numbers. School would be a lot more bearable if he could talk to Michael throughout the day. But he was afraid Michael would think he was creepy (which he knew was unlikely) or worse, clingy. So he never asked and Michael never asked and so they were confined to the Tumblr messenger system. Which only worked on computers. Which meant they could only talk _after_ school.

The rest of the day went by pretty easy. Derek got put into in-school suspension for the rest of the day for tripping a girl in front of a teacher, so he was pretty much bully-free from lunch through the end of the day. It could have been a not-so-terrible day, if he hadn’t fallen asleep in Physics. That had landed him detention, where he’d fallen asleep again. 

Once detention was over, Jeremy found himself in front of the school with a conundrum. The buses were all long gone and his house was an hour’s walk away, at the very least. He fiddled with his cracked iPhone before calling his mother.

“Come on, come on,” he muttered. He groaned when it clicked over to voicemail, the monotone woman saying he could leave a message after the beep. He hung up. He should have known better than to hope his mom could come pick him up.

And so he walked home, grateful at least that it wasn’t snowing. But still, January was a cold month and he was practically an icicle when he finally made it to his house. His mom’s car was nowhere to be seen.

There was a package sitting on the front porch. Jeremy knelt down and recognized his father’s chicken scratch handwriting. It must be his birthday present. Three weeks too late, but here it was. Jeremy scooped up the small package and fumbled for his house keys. His fingers were so frozen that he had trouble unlocking the door, but finally he managed.

He sighed in relief as he stepped into the warm house. He kicked off his shoes as he went and headed straight into his bedroom. He threw the package on his desk chair and laid back on his bed. He laid there for a few minutes, allowing the warmth of the room to seep into his bones. 

He wanted to take a shower. A nice, long, hot shower sounded so nice, but he was so frozen that he couldn’t even get himself up from the bed. So he sat in silence for a few long moments, allowing the feeling to return to his fingers and toes.

He sat up after a while and leaned over to grab his laptop from his desk. He grabbed the package, too. As his laptop booted up, he tore open the tape. He had no real faith in whatever present his dad had sent him- he’d never really met the man and only really spoke two him two or three times a year. They didn’t really know each other.

Inside was a T-shirt. It was a size medium, which meant it would be slightly too large on Jeremy, but that wasn’t too bad. The bad part was the words printed across the chest: MADE IN NEW JERSEY. Ugh. His cheeks burned at the implication.

Jeremy balled it up and threw it back to the desk chair, where he knew it would sit for ages. Maybe he’d wear it as a pajama top, but he would never let someone else see him in it.

Jeremy opened up Tumblr and messaged Michael a simple “hey”, but got no reply. Again, Jeremy wished he had Michael’s phone number. It’d be nice to not have to sit around until Michael came online to talk.

Jeremy sighed and leaned against the wall. He scrolled aimlessly through Tumblr, eyeing the little messenger icon, silently willing it to show him a new message.

He knew he should call his dad and thank him for the (late, embarrassing, stupid) present. He didn’t really want to, but he knew he should. So, like the good child that he was, he picked up his phone and called his dad.

—

Jeremy stared at the phone like it was a snake slithering across his hand. He placed the phone back to his ear.

“Sorry, what?” He asked in disbelief. His dad on the other end sighed.

“I just- don’t worry about it.” He said baldly. “Never mind.”

Jeremy shook his head. “This is just coming out of nowhere, Dad.”

“Not really,” his dad said gruffly, “I just never mentioned it before.”

“Same difference.” Jeremy ran a hand through his hair, tugging harshly on the ends. He hadn’t meant to spill his guts to his dad. He barely knew the guy, for Christ’s sake! But he hadn’t gotten to talk about anything with Michael today and all of his bad feelings were just pooling right there in his chest and it was almost like word vomit. He’d told his dad how his mom hadn’t even remembered his birthday until he’d said something to her about it. How he’d had frozen pizza and ramen for dinner for the past week, since that was all that was left in the house. How he was bullied in school but his mom was never around to do anything about it. How she got mad and yelled whenever she wasn’t up to speed with his life, yet never actually tried to catch up with what was going on in his life. How he hated being there.

And his dad had said, “You should come live with me, then.”

“No, it’s not the same thing. I’ve wanted you to come live with me for a while. For years.”

“Yet you never said anything.” Jeremy couldn’t tell if this was all an elaborate ruse or what. “We talk three times a year, Dad. What would make you want me to live with you?”

“You’re my son, of course I want you to live with me.” His dad paused. “It kills me that I don’t know you better. But your mom felt this arrangement was best… and I believed she had to be right. But if what you’re saying is true, then I’ve been wrong this whole time. You shouldn’t be neglected like that, not when you have somewhere else you could go.”

Jeremy had never thought he was being neglected. Yeah, his mom was never around, but neglected? A second passed and he thought about how the fridge was almost completely empty, save for condiments, and his mother hadn’t even cared to go grocery shopping or give him money to do so. Yeah, maybe neglect was the right word.

“I,” Jeremy started. Then he stopped.

“I didn’t mean to put you in a tough spot, kid,” his dad said softly. “I don’t want to make anything harder on you than it has to be. I just want you to know… You have options, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, throat feeling hoarse. “I’ll, uh, I’ll think about it?”

“Yeah. Yeah, alright. You think about it.”

“I will.” Jeremy squeezed his hand around the phone. “I’ll talk to you later, okay? I have homework.”

He hung up before his dad could respond. He didn’t know what to do, what to think. Instinctively, he grabbed his laptop and opened up his message-thread with Michael.

**Galaxians** : !!!!!!!!! can u hurry up i’m having a crisis here

**Galaxians** : micah

**Galaxians** : micAH

**Galaxians** : MICHAEL MELL I NEED TO TALK TO YOU RIGHT NOW

**WakaWaka** : woah woah all caps and proper grammar? this must be bad. what’s up, bro?


	2. Apocalypse of The Damned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So uh... this got a lot more angsty than I was intending.... Sorry?

**WakaWaka** : so what are you gonna do?

Jeremy tapped his fingers repeatedly on the end of his laptop, the question swirling in his head. What _was_ he going to do? 

**Galaxians** : idk. u tell me what to do

 **WakaWaka** : you know i can’t

 **Galaxians** : pls

 **WakaWaka** : idk man… it sounds pretty bad at your moms. maybe a new place would be good

 **Galaxians** : but what if it’s worse at my dad’s?? idk him at all it could be like 20x worse

 **Galaxians** : at least i kno what to expect here

 **WakaWaka** : but it could be better

 **WakaWaka** : i mean, maybe try to get to know him better before you decide

 **Galaxians** : maybe

 **Galaxians** : i need a distraction

 **WakaWaka** : aotd?

 **Galaxians** : aotd

Jeremy exited out of Tumblr and turned on his TV and game console. Apocalypse of the Damned was one of the only multi-player games both he and Michael had, so they tended to play it a lot. It was kind of the closest they could really get to hanging out with each other.

Plus, they could wear headsets and actually speak to each other. Jeremy had only ever heard Michael’s voice through his crackling, ancient headset and yet he knew he would recognize that voice anywhere.

“You ready, man?” Michael asked. Jeremy hurriedly signed in and chose the game Michael had set up for them.

“You know it!” Jeremy sat up straighter, controller poised in his grip. “Ready to kick your ass.”

Michael snorted. “As if.” Jeremy mimicked his snort and he heard Michael laugh on the other end. Oh. That… did things to his insides.

The zombies descended and the two got to work, shouting back and forth as they fought. The game did exactly what Jeremy was hoping it would. It kept him distracted. He was so caught up in pixelated zombies and Michael’s voice that he didn’t think once about his parents.

After their third (failed) attempt at beating level eight, Jeremy said, “We need a break. Combat mode?” While the normal play of AoTD was a two-player game with the players on the same team, there was a combat mode where players could duke it out and just kick each other’s asses. This was where Michael tended to beat Jeremy most of the time. Jeremy suspected it was because Michael had more practice, playing with other people. He never said anything about it, though. Maybe he didn’t want to know that AoTD wasn’t just _their_ thing.

“Ready to lose, Heere?” Michael asked. Jeremy could practically _see_ his eyebrows waggling.

“Ooh, breaking out the last name, Micah? That’s low.”

Michael’s breath hitched, so soft it almost wasn’t picked up by the headset. 

“Bro? You okay?” Jeremy asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He adjusted his headset as if that would make a difference. Michael cleared his throat loudly.

“Uh, yeah, dude, I’m fine,” he said. “Ready to kick your ass, that is!” 

Jeremy laughed. “No way, man!” And just like that, the weird moment passed and they began the combat round. Michael was easily kicking Jeremy’s ass, much to Jeremy’s dismay.

“Oh, come on!” Jeremy whined, kicking his legs a little. “That’s such a cheat move!”

“Hey, it’s not my fault you don’t know all the combos,” Michael replied, using yet another combination attack to bring Jeremy’s HP down to almost zero.

“Micah,” Jeremy whined, “you know that’s not fair!” Yeah, Jeremy knew he was being whiny, but he didn’t care. He wanted to win, dammit!

Just like that, Michael’s character slowed his punches enough that Jeremy could swoop in and start kicking ass. Jeremy whooped loudly as one, two, _three_ hits landed and knocked out Michael’s character.

“I am victorious!” Jeremy shouted into the air. “HA!”

“Yeah, yeah, lucky shot,” Michael grumbled on the other end, not sounding all that unhappy.

“So what? That’s two for me now, right?” Jeremy said, half gloating. He never won. This was an awesome feeling.

“Tch. Yeah, two for you. And still a hundred and seven for me, so…”

“Ah, but I’m catching up!” Jeremy pointed out. He did a little fist bump and then flushed. He was glad Michael hadn’t seen that. That was way too embarrassing.

And then, again, his mom barged into his room with no warning. There was a metaphor there if Jeremy cared to look for it.

“Mom!” He cried, pushing the microphone away from his mouth. “What are you doing?”

“Who are you talking to?” His mom asked, completely ignoring his question. The game paused and Jeremy knew Michael did it from his end. Jeremy’s face burned at the thought of Michael listening to this.

“My friend,” Jeremy replied, placing his hand loosely over the microphone. It wouldn’t block much from Michael’s ears, but it was something. “Michael.”

“Michael who?” His mom pressed. “Have I met him? You’re being awfully loud, you know, Jeremy. I swear, I’m always telling you-”

“Michael’s a friend from school,” Jeremy lied. “Sorry. I’ll try to keep it down.” All he wanted was to go back to the game, and recapture the feeling he’d had two minutes ago. He turned his attention back to the screen, hoping his mom would get the message. But again, she didn’t.

“Why aren’t you ready?” She asked, placing her hands on her hips. “If this Mike is so distracting, maybe you shouldn’t be playing with him.” Jeremy balked at the thought of not being able to play video games or talk to Michael. Then he picked up on something else.

“Ready for what?”

“For dinner, obviously. We’re supposed to be at Applebee’s in half an hour. Get dressed and be ready to go in five, or else I’m leaving you here.” His mom pushed an imaginary strand of hair back in place, taking a deep breath. “And tell Mitchell keeps you from doing as you’re told, it will end here. You understand me?”

Jeremy swallowed. “Yeah,” he replied hoarsely. She nodded, satisfied, and stalked out of the room. The door was left wide open. Jeremy felt a flash of anger surge through him.

She had never said anything about going to dinner, so how was he supposed to know he needed to be ready to go? And who was she to comment on his friendship with Michael? To threaten to put an end to it?

Jeremy groaned in frustration, half forgetting he still had the headset on. 

“Dude…” Michael said, clearly at a loss for words. Jeremy’s cheeks grew warm and splotchy.

“Sorry,” he muttered. “She… I told you.” 

“She’s a lot,” Michael said, repeating his words back at him. Jeremy huffed.

“That’s being generous. I’d better get going. Applebee’s will be better than having beef ramen for dinner, again.”

“Ew, you know chicken is the only good ramen!” Michael cried, clearly trying to lift the mood. Jeremy’s lips twitched, but he didn’t laugh like he normally would have. His mom tended to suck all the good feelings out the door with her.

“Yeah, I know.” Jeremy paused. “Maybe living with my dad wouldn’t be so bad.”

—

“Hurry up.” Jeremy’s mother hissed at him in the parking lot of Applebee’s. There was freshly fallen snow on the ground and Jeremy was doing his best not to slip, but it was difficult with his mother rushing him like that. “We’re going to be late!”

“Late for what?” Jeremy asked for the third time. His mother just ignored him and strode into the building. The door nearly slammed in Jeremy’s face before he caught it and followed her in.

His mom paused momentarily in the doorway, scanning the table for something. Or, Jeremy realized, some _one_. 

Without a word, she walked over to a booth with a lone man sitting in it. Her demeanor changed instantly, melting into a warm and kind individual. It kind of gave Jeremy whiplash. When was the last time he’d seen her smile like that? 

She placed a hand on the small of his back and urged him forward gently. Jeremy jumped at the contact. When was the last time she’d actually touched him, for a hug or anything else? He couldn’t remember and his father’s word echoed back at him. _Neglect, neglect, neglect_.

“Robert, this is my son, Jeremy. Jeremy, Robert.” Jeremy stuck out his (shaky) hand and Robert shook it. 

“Your mom’s told me a lot about you, Jeremy,” Robert said as Jeremy slid into the opposite side of the booth. His mom slid in after him, caging him in. Jeremy’s hands shook worse.

“Oh, really?” Jeremy asked. He tried to mask his disbelief, but the brief confused look on Robert’s face said he hadn’t quite managed to.

“Yeah, she says you’re great at school. A real math whiz.”

Jeremy was failing math.

“He is,” Jeremy’s mother gushed, patting his cheek softly. Jeremy had to freeze completely to keep from flinching. “So talented, too. He’s in his school band.” 

The last time he’d been in band was the fifth grade.

“Wow, what instrument do you play?” Robert asked. Jeremy blinked, swallowing hard. Had he heard right? Everything seemed to be swimming around and around. He opened his mouth and closed it.

“Jeremy, sweetie,” his mom said, a steely undertone to her voice, “you were asked a question.”

“Clarinet,” he gasped. Robert nodded in interest, but seemed to realize talking to Jeremy wasn’t the best idea right then. He asked Jeremy’s mom, calling her Clarissa, about her work.

The rest of dinner was a blur. Jeremy couldn’t even remember what he ate, much less whether or not he’d liked it. His anxiety was at a peak and he couldn’t focus on anything other than keeping his mouth shut and walking in a straight line.

It was a relief to climb into the car. It was a greater relief when his mom didn’t speak to him. He wasn’t even in the right mindset to read whether or not she was mad at him. He just slumped back and closed his eyes.

He opened them when he started to get cold. He found that he was still in the car, which had been turned off who-knows-how-long-ago. His mother had left him inside the car and gone into the house. She hadn’t even bothered to check if he was alright.

The cold air was grounding, at least. He didn’t feel like his head was spinning anymore and could actually breathe, so that was a good thing. He got out of the car, making sure to lock it behind him, and went inside the house. His mother was nowhere to be seen. Good.

He shut his door softly behind him and climbed into bed. His first instinct was to go to Tumblr, to go to Michael. But, instead, he pulled out his phone and texted his dad. He had never texted his dad before, didn’t even know if he _had_ texting, but he texted him anyway.

 **Me** : if i was interested in living w u… could we do like a trial run

 **Dad** : That sounds like a great idea, Jeremy. When would you want to come visit?

 **Me** : asap

It wouldn’t be a permanent thing. Probably. But a break from his mom, from his _life_ was exactly what he needed. Even if he had to return to it in a week.

 **Dad** : I’ll talk to your mother tomorrow. We’ll work it out so you can come next week.

The thought of his parents talking about this sent distress signals all over Jeremy’s body, but he knew it was necessary. Was it entirely possible that his mom wouldn’t notice him being gone for a week? Yes, very. But was he lucky enough for that to happen the one week where he needed it to? Not at all.

 **Me** : sounds great. lemme kno

 **Dad** : I will. Is everything okay?

Jeremy typed out “no” then backspaced. “Yes”, then backspaced. Finally, he replied.

 **Me** : not sure

With that, he put his phone down and picked up his laptop. He knew right away that Michael was on Tumblr, given the fact that the top four posts on his dashboard were from **WakaWaka**.

 **Galaxians** : i’m gonna stay w my dad next week

 **Galaxians** : trial run. maybe.

Michael took a second to reply. Jeremy’s chest seized again and he started worrying that Michael felt awkward because of what had happened earlier and what if he didn’t want to have anything to do with Jeremy and his stupid family issues and-

 **WakaWaka** : that’s great, jer! even if it’s not a permanent thing, it’ll be good for you.

Jeremy sighed. The tension eased quickly and Jeremy really started to feel better. He needed to learn not to doubt Michael. 

**Galaxians** : i hope so

 **WakaWaka** : so where does your dad live? will you be in the same timezone?

 **Galaxians** : uhhh

 **WakaWaka** : you don’t know?

Jeremy grabbed his phone again. He sent his dad a text.

 **Me** : awkward q, but where do u live

 **Dad** : I didn’t realize you didn’t know. Red Bank, New Jersey.

Jeremy scrunched his eyebrows. That was weird. That city was familiar. Jeremy had never (to his memory) been to New Jersey, so he couldn’t place where he knew that city from.

 **Me** : k thx

 **Galaxians** : red bank nj

 **WakaWaka** : dude

 **WakaWaka** : are you joking

 **WakaWaka** : please tell me you are not fucking with me right now

 **Galaxians** : ???

Why was Michael freaking out? What was so special about Red Bank, New Jersey?

Jeremy realized as soon as Michael sent the message.

 **WakaWaka** : that’s my town you dummy! you’re gonna be here! in person! wt actual f

Michael’s birthday was back in November and Jeremy, finally feeling kind of confident in their friendship, had wanted to send him a present. It had taken him a solid two weeks to scrounge up the courage to ask for Michael’s address. He still had the piece of scrap paper with it scribbled on it. 3672 Washington Ave. Red Bank, NJ.

 **Galaxians** : does this mean what i think it means

 **WakaWaka** : WE CAN MEET IN PERSON. I R L DUDE

Jeremy laughed in disbelief. This was the best news he could have ever gotten. He gets to run away for a week _and_ he finally gets to meet Michael in real life?

Then it hit him. If he moved in with his dad, he would live in the same town as Michael. They’d go to the same school.

Maybe moving in with his dad wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.


	3. Red Robin (Yum!)

Jeremy woke up the next morning with his laptop still open next to him. Tumblr was still pulled up and he saw that Michael had left a _very_ long list of things they could do together while Jeremy was in town.

 **WakaWaka** : there’s the pier, which has lots of rides and games and is totally fun

 **WakaWaka** : fuck it’s winter tho so all the rides are closed down

 **WakaWaka** : but the arcade is still open

 **WakaWaka** : they have awesome retro games, dude! you’ll love it

 **WakaWaka** : and we can go to the city and do whatever touristy bs you wanna do

The messages went on and on. Michael had clearly stayed up much later than Jeremy had been able to. And it was very apparent that Michael was just as excited to meet Jeremy in person as Jeremy was. That thought gave Jeremy a cozy, happy feeling in his chest. 

He looked at his clock and grimaced. He needed to get ready for school. He rubbed his face in an attempt to wipe the grogginess away and grabbed his laptop.

 **Galaxians** : sorry fell asleep. hopefully getting all the details today!!

Michael didn’t reply (probably out cold and would be late for school), so Jeremy shut down his laptop and got ready for school. He needed to hurry if he was gonna catch the bus. There was no way in hell that he was walking in that frozen hellscape again.

Vaguely, he wondered if winter was better in New Jersey. Was it less harsh, since it was further south? Nicer winters would be an added bonus to moving… He shook his head. Trial run first, right? It probably wouldn’t happen, anyway. Knowing his mom, she’d put a stop to it before he could even make up his own mind.

School was… the same. Jeremy stood outside English for three minutes before he started panicking over the thought of dealing with Derek for a whole hour. He ended up slipping into the empty auditorium and playing Tetris on his phone. He’d stop by later and ask about what he’d missed. Mrs. Trombly was a hard-ass, but she (sometimes) had a soft spot for Jeremy when it came to missing class. 

To reduce any risk of bumping into Derek in the halls, Jeremy waited until the bell for class had already rung to leave the auditorium. He knew Derek would give him hell (more than usual) if he realized Jeremy had skipped class to avoid him. 

He was just about to open the door to his Economics class when the loudspeaker crackled to life.

“Jeremy Heere, to the front office.” The secretary’s voice droned loudly. “Jeremy Heere, please come to the front office.”

Jeremy’s heart pounded as he turned and headed down towards the front of the building. Why was he getting called to the office? Did he get caught skipping? He wasn’t a bad kid, really, so he couldn’t have done anything else to get into trouble. But still, his mind whirred and swirled with panic-induced thoughts of what was happening. He was shaking like a leaf by the time he pushed open the door to the front office and stepped inside.

“Mom?” Jeremy’s mother was standing near the desk, signing a slip of paper. She didn’t look up when he spoke.

“Took you long enough,” she sniffed. “That’s all I need to sign him out?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the secretary said.

“Sign me out?” Jeremy echoed. His mom had _never_ signed him out of school before. Not even for a doctor’s appointment or when he threw up in class in the third grade. He’d spent four hours in the nurse’s office and had to be given a bucket for the bus ride home.

“I thought it would be a treat,” she replied, her voice sounding incredibly blasé. She turned on her heels and walked out of the office, leaving Jeremy to awkward trail after her like a lost puppy.

They were in the car before he gathered up the courage to speak.

“So, uh, where are we going?” He asked, scratching behind his ear. His hands were still shaking. There had to be some sort of catch. He watched as her hands tightened and loosened a few times on the steering wheel.

“Can’t I just take my son out to lunch?” She asked, her voice feigning hurt. Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

“I mean, yeah,” he stammered, “but it’s not like-”

“Not like you want to run away?” His mother bit out, the pretense melting away to steel. “To New Jersey? With that- that _man_?”

“You mean my dad?” Jeremy asked. He was caught off guard by her attitude. She blew air harshly out of her nose.

“I knew it was a mistake,” she spat, “allowing you to talk to him. God, he’s putting all sorts of _ideas_ in your head! It was his idea, wasn’t it, that you go stay with him?”

Jeremy, through years of experience at being prey, was a quick thinker. “It’s not a permanent thing, Mom. It’s just for a week.”

“Two.” Two whole weeks? It sounded like a dream come true.

“Okay, two weeks,” he amended quickly. “And then that’s it. He’ll… get off my back about it and it’ll never have to happen again.” He tugged at the end of his long-sleeved shirt, awaiting her response. The tension in his mother’s shoulders did not lessen.

“You’re not going,” she said flatly. “End of discussion.”

She pulled into a Red Robin. It turned out she really was taking him out to lunch. 

“Mom-”

“I said end of discussion, Jeremy! You’ll have nothing more to do with that man, do you understand me?” She was practically yelling, her voice high and pitchy. It was the first time Jeremy had ever truly seen his mom lose her cool. 

He put on his best soothing voice (though he’d only ever used it one time to talk to Michael after one of his moms had gotten into a car accident) and spoke as carefully as he could. He couldn’t let her know how much this meant to him. If she knew, she’d never let him go.

“It’s just this once,” he said again. “I don’t even really want to go, I swear. I’ll- I’ll make it hell for him, so he’ll never want me to come back. Then we won’t have to go through this again. Okay?”

The muscles in her jaw twitched as she ground hard on her teeth. Jeremy wasn’t sure his mom would listen to him (when had she ever?), but he hoped against all hope that she would.

“I’ll think about it,” she replied stiffly, after two agonizingly long minutes of utter silence. Jeremy wanted to huff and complain how “I’ll think about it” was almost always code for “not in this lifetime”, but he bit his tongue and followed her into Red Robin. 

—

 **Galaxians** : i’ll be there at 315 saturday afternoon!!

Jeremy couldn’t believe it was actually happening. He had a plane ticket in his email, his mom’s (begrudging) permission, and he was going to New Jersey for two whole weeks. He was going to spend two whole weeks with Michael. He almost pinched himself to see if he was dreaming.

 **WakaWaka** : dude i seriously cannot wait

 **WakaWaka** : at all

 **WakaWaka** how'd your mom take it

 **Galaxians** : horribly. but that doesn't matter

 **Galaxians** : two days and i’ll be on my way there!! i can’t wait to see u

Jeremy’s heart pounded a little as he hit enter on that last message. It was innocent enough, wasn’t it? Something deep in Jeremy’s gut said otherwise, but he did his best to ignore it. And to ignore the fact that Michael hadn’t responded right away.

He decided to get packing. It was Thursday night and he had to go to school tomorrow in order to collect the next two weeks’ worth of schoolwork (ugh). He picked up clothes and tried his best not to wonder which of his cardigans Michael would like the best. Blue or red?

He shook his head. Michael wouldn’t care what clothes he was wearing, idiot! He shoved both of them in his ragged duffel bag anyway. He grabbed a handful of socks when he heard the familiar ‘ping!’ of the messenger.

 **WakaWaka** : me too man

 **WakaWaka** : is your dad picking you up from the airport?

 **Galaxians** : uh prolly. i didn't ask

 **WakaWaka** : oh ok

 **Galaxians** : everything alright?

 **WakaWaka** : yeah yeah! totally stoked you're coming

Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows. Michael was being weird. Jeremy sat down on the bed and pulled the laptop on top of his legs, chewing on his bottom lip softly. Had he done something? Was he being too annoying about going to Red Bank? Oh god. Did Michael not really want him to come? He probably didn’t want to have to deal with Jeremy for two whole weeks. What a nightmare that would be, right?

Jeremy swallowed hard and began to type.

 **Galaxians** : r u sure dude? u seem off.

 **Galaxians** : u don’t have to hang with me the whole time if u don't wanna

There. Give him an out. And try not to be too hurt when he takes it.

 **WakaWaka** : no no no no no no no! that’s not it at all jeremy

 **WakaWaka** : i swear

 **WakaWaka** : i just

 **WakaWaka** : i was wondering if i could pick you up

 **WakaWaka** : from the airport, i mean

Jeremy sat back. His head was swimming and he didn’t know what to think. He hated being like this. Overanalyzing everything and getting himself so worked up over what was clearly nothing. But it never _felt_ like nothing when it came to Michael. Nothing ever did.

 **Galaxians** : i’d like that

—

Jeremy’s backpack felt like it was loaded with bricks. And he still had half a day to go, collecting homework for to keep him caught up during his absence. His dad had apparently called the school and worked it out so the teachers had to give him the work, no matter how annoyed Mr. Brenner and Ms. Scott were. 

Jeremy was sitting, as usual, by himself in the far corner of the lunchroom. He picked at the tray of “nachos” he’d gotten from the “Mexican” section of the food court, but his stomach turned and he couldn’t eat it.

Derek was on the other side of the cafeteria, sitting with his friends. Kids from the swim team. Derek wasn’t on the team himself, but he hung out with everyone on it, so he might as well have been. He hadn’t spotted Jeremy yet, and for that he was grateful.

Jeremy thought about what school would be like, should he move to New Jersey. Michael didn’t talk much about his school life, claiming it boring and lame and a total waste of time. He just slipped his headphones on before he walked in the door and refused to take them off until he left. Jeremy wondered how he could fly under the radar like that. 

“Well, not completely under the radar,” Michael had corrected, the one time Jeremy had asked. They’d been playing AoTD and were taking a small break between levels. “There’s this guy- Rich- he…”

“He bullies you?” Jeremy asked carefully. Michael was quiet a moment.

“I mean, whenever he notices I’m alive,” Michael replied quietly. “I’m good at getting by unnoticed.”

The thought of it then (and now) made Jeremy’s heart hurt. Michael was the very last person in the world who deserved to be bullied. Or ignored. Getting by unnoticed wasn’t such a pleasant experience, that much Jeremy knew from experience.

“Hey, string bean!” Derek’s loud voice boomed and pulled Jeremy from his thoughts. Jeremy jerked in surprise, accidentally knocking his nachos to the ground. His stomach growled and he groaned.

“What do you want, Derek?” He asked tiredly. Derek plopped into the seat across from him, an exaggerated pout on his stupid face.

“That’s not a nice way to talk to me, string bean.” He said. Jeremy picked up his tray, but left the food on the ground. He would have gone to get napkins and clean it up, but Derek wasn’t about to let that happen. “So I hear you're running away for a couple weeks? What, finally had enough of me? I’m hurt, really.”

“I’m not- that’s not,” Jeremy tried to speak, but Derek stood, looming over him and the table. Jeremy had no choice but to look up at him. Derek made like he was going to punch Jeremy, and Jeremy flinched hard.

“Tch, you’re such a loser,” Derek sneered. “Little ‘fraidy-cat, aren’t you? Gotta run away from your problems instead of facing them head-on, like a man.” Derek stepped back and shoved the table harshly in Jeremy’s direction. The edge hit him straight in the gut, right under his ribcage, and effectively knocked the wind out of him. Jeremy doubled over, nose touching the fake wood as he struggled to breathe.

It felt like his lungs had caved in on themselves and he couldn’t get them to re-inflate. He heard, through muted ears, Derek laughing as he strutted back over to his friends.

Just breathe.

Breathe, Jeremy.

Jeremy, come on!

Jeremy tried to coach himself, to convince his stupid body to fucking _work_ and breathe, but it felt like an eternity was passing by and nothing was changing. He closed his eyes and thought of the one thing that could possibly ground him.

Michael. Michael with his Pac Man tattoo on his left arm. Michael with smudgy glasses and a half-worn out sweatshirt that he never took off (or so he claimed). Michael, who’d he had only ever seen about five pictures of, but he knew he could pick out from a sea of people. Michael who shouted at him when they played AoTD, but was soothing and comforting whenever Jeremy had a bad day. Michael, the only person in the world who Jeremy ever wanted to talk to. Michael.

Jeremy gasped loudly as precious air refilled his lungs.

“Are you okay?” The janitor was leaning over the table, looking at him with concern. “Do you need to go to the nurse?” Jeremy took a couple deep breaths and glanced over at Derek, who was glaring at him.

“I’m fine,” Jeremy managed after a moment. He could feel that his face was beet red. “I just- I dropped my food,” he finished lamely. The janitor glanced down at the nachos by his feet and grunted. He obviously didn’t think Jeremy was fine.

“Yeah, okay, kid. Let’s go get you another lunch.”

—

 

“Hurry up or I’m not taking you!” Jeremy’s mother shouted from the living room. It was Saturday morning. Jeremy was all packed and ready to go to the airport. He knew he needed to hurry. His mom would definitely come through with that threat if he didn’t. But he had one more thing he needed to do.

 **Galaxians** : officially omw. see u on the flip side!!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay guys, it's gonna get so good in the next chapter I promise!!


	4. Airport Rendezvous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the chapter we've all been waiting for! I really hope it doesn't disappoint.

Planes take forever to land. Especially when you’re practically aching to get off the damn thing; it’s like they read your mind and choose to take forever just to fuck with you. Jeremy thought he was gonna die before he finally got off the plane in New Jersey.

His left leg bounced up and down impatiently as the plane finally landed, but kept rolling on the ground. He looked out the window at the large airport to the right of the plane, imagining for a moment that he could see Michael in the window. He knew he couldn’t, that only passengers were waiting in the terminals, but he pretended anyway.

“Could you stop that?” The teenaged girl next to him asked somewhat rudely. She looked pointedly at his leg. He stilled, grinding his teeth a little. He turned away from her and looked back out the window. After a moment, he pulled his phone out of his backpack and turned it on.

**Me** : just landed. waiting to get off this damn plane

It was a minute or two later when his dad responded.

**Dad** : Good! This meeting is lasting longer than expected, but I should be home by six.

It had turned out well that Michael had offered to pick Jeremy up from the airport. Jeremy’s dad had hit a bit of a snag with his work in order to get the time off for Jeremy’s visit. He had one last work meeting (it was weird that it was on a Saturday, but it was some overtime thing) and would be free for the next two weeks.

Jeremy didn’t know quite how to feel about his dad not working at all while he was there- especially if they don’t get along. It could be a recipe for disaster.

Finally ( _finally_ ), the flight attendant announced that the passengers could exit the plane. Jeremy jumped up so quickly that he smacked his head on the ceiling above him. 

“Ow!” He hissed, instinctively grabbing his head and rubbing gently. He grabbed his backpack, shoved his phone into his pocket, and turned. He groaned. The girl next to him hadn’t even stood.

“It’ll be a while before we go anywhere,” she said, not even bothering to look up from her phone. “Don’t get your panties in a twist.”

They were pretty far back in the plane and Jeremy could see that she was right. It would be a while yet before he could get off the plane. Her sound reasoning didn’t dampen his impatience in the least bit. 

He refused to sit back down, if only so he could waste as little time as possible when it _was_ finally time to get off. Jeremy didn’t want to be on this plane one second longer than he had to be.

Again, he wished he had Michael’s phone number. Why hadn’t he asked for it? This would have been the perfect excuse! Ugh, he could be texting Michael right now instead of standing, bored, and watching for any sign that the line in the aisle of the plane was moving. 

When he finally saw that it was moving, ever so slowly, he wasn’t even embarrassed when he asked the girl to get going.

“Sheesh,” she muttered, scooping down to pick up her purse. “Where’s the fire?”

Jeremy rolled his eyes and shifted from one foot to the other. The girl slipped into the aisle and the line stilled to a halt. She looked at him and smirked.

“Told you,” she sang. She made to sit back down.

“Please!” Jeremy cried, far too desperate for his own liking. “Please… don’t.”

Sighing dramatically, she stood back up. She crossed her arms in front of her chest. Her curly brown hair fell into her eyes and she shook it away. She went back to playing on her phone.

“Uh, thanks,” Jeremy said awkwardly after a moment. The girl chuckled a little.

“I don’t know what’s got you all worked up,” she said, “but I’ll trust you have a good reason.”

“I do.” He didn’t offer any more and she didn’t ask. Mercifully, the line started moving again. The girl didn’t step forward, though. Instead, she stepped back.

“Well?” She asked, gesturing to the empty space in front of her. Jeremy stood, not quite comprehending. “Oh my god.” She grabbed his arm and yanked him in front of her. “Is this what I get for being a nice person?”

Jeremy let out a small “thanks” and walked forward as the line finally began to move.

After what seemed like an eternity, he was finally off the plane. He slung his backpack over one shoulder and followed the signs that led to baggage claim. 

He found the baggage claim conveyor belt for his plane pretty easily and stood by it. He half looked for his black suitcase (with a piece of red cloth tied around the handle) and half looked for Michael.

His suitcase came around quickly and he grabbed it. It was heavier than it looked and Jeremy was so thin, he staggered under the weight a little. After a small struggle, he managed to get the suitcase upright and rolling on its wheels. He headed towards the exit, keeping his eye out.

“Jeremy?” Jeremy halted when he heard that familiar voice call out his name. Dropping both his backpack and his suitcase, Jeremy whirled around. Michael was standing near one of the doors. He was wearing his red hoodie (like he had in every picture Jeremy had ever seen of him) and a pair of jeans. Jeremy felt like he’d been punched in the gut again. 

Michael was there. Michael was _right there_ , practically in front of him. A grin broke out on Jeremy’s face.

“Michael!” Without even thinking, Jeremy abandoned his things and bolted towards Michael. Michael was moving his way, as well, a matching smile on his face.

The two met in the middle, hugging tight. Jeremy held onto Michael for dear life, burying his face into the crook of Michael’s neck.

“Dude,” Michael said, his voice muffled in the hug, “I can’t believe you’re really here.”

“Me neither,” Jeremy said. He hugged Michael tighter and was relieved when Michael did the same. Acutely, he was aware that this hug was going on for quite some time, but it was so long overdue that Jeremy couldn’t find it in himself to care. Or even be embarrassed.

“Um, you dropped this.” Jeremy jumped a little at the new voice. The two boys broke apart, though they both only took one footstep back. Michael held onto Jeremy’s elbow loosely, like he didn’t want to break contact. Jeremy was grateful. He felt like if he stopped touching Michael, he would disappear. Like this was all a dream and the contact was the only way to keep from waking up.

“Uh, thanks,” Jeremy said, accepting the backpack with his free arm. The security guard did not look amused or even slightly understanding. Jeremy shouldered his backpack quickly and took back his suitcase.

“You can’t just leave your stuff in the middle of the floor in an airport,” he scolded Jeremy. "You want the bomb squad to get called?"

“Sorry,” Jeremy replied. Michael smirked, obviously holding back a snicker. Feeling almost like he’d done it a million times, Jeremy kicked him lightly in the shins. Michael responded with his own kick, the security guard already forgotten.

“Here, let me,” Michael said once the security guard had walked away. He reached for Jeremy’s suitcase with his free hand. Jeremy stepped to the side so the suitcase was on the opposite side from Michael.

“I can handle it, dude,” he said, half-indignantly. Michael rolled his eyes, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

“I’m sure you can, but I can help.” Michael tightened his hold on Jeremy’s arm slightly and pulled so he was pressed flush against Jeremy, reaching around him for the suitcase. Jeremy let out a tiny squawk and released his hold on the suitcase. Michael grabbed it quickly and let out a victory cheer, pulling the suitcase (and himself) away from Jeremy.

Jeremy’s face was hot. His ears felt like they were on fire. He tugged at the sleeve of his blue cardigan and rubbed one ear roughly. Michael looked over at him and his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

“You okay, Jer?” He asked. Jeremy felt himself grow more red.

“Fine!” He replied quickly. “Just, uh, jet-lagged?”

“Okay,” Michael said slowly. He pulled up the handle on the suitcase. “My car’s out front. You cool with hanging out at my place until your dad is off from work?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said, softer this time. “That sounds good.”

It took all Jeremy could not to laugh when he saw Michael’s car. It was a fucking PT Cruiser in the _ugliest_ shade of brown he’d ever seen in his life. Michael threw the suitcase into the trunk and shut it with a rattly thud.

“I know what you’re thinking,” Michael sighed. “It’s a piece of shit.”

“I wasn’t thinking that at all,” Jeremy lied. He played with the strap of his backpack idly. “And anyways, I don’t even have a car, so I can’t judge.”

They climbed into the car and Jeremy shoved his backpack down by his feet. The car wasn’t so bad on the inside. It smelled faintly of weed and McDonald’s, which wasn’t such an unusual scent when Jeremy thought about it.

Michael automatically plugged his phone into the adaptor and started playing some music Jeremy had never heard before. It sounded pretty cool, but definitely old school. Kind of like Michael.

Jeremy’s legs were slightly too long to fit in the passenger side so he had to turn slightly in order to fit. This meant he was sort of leaning on his side, facing Michael. It wasn’t such a bad spot to be in. Michael laughed when he saw that.

“Aw sorry, the lever to adjust the seat is somewhere…” Michael said, reaching down in between Jeremy’s legs in search for the lever. Damn it, Jeremy’s face had _just_ returned to its normal color! After a painfully long second of Michael groping under the seat, he found what he was looking for and Jeremy’s seat shot back. He stretched his legs out and let out a contented sigh.

“Thanks,” he said. Michael half-shrugged.

“No problem. If you didn’t have freakishly long legs…” Jeremy let out an indignant cry and Michael laughed. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. They’re only weirdly long.”

Michael pulled out onto the road and began to drive. Jeremy settled back into his seat, still turned a little to look at Michael as he drove. The music melted from one song to another seamlessly. Michael sang along to the song lowly, and Jeremy did his best to suppress a grin.

“What?” Michael asked when he noticed Jeremy’s smile. Jeremy shook his head.

“You have a nice voice,” he answered honestly.

“Oh, as if.”

“It’s true!” Jeremy pushed himself up so he sat straighter. As if that made what he had to say more credible or something. “You’re really good.”

Michael’s cheeks colored a little and he shrugged off the compliment. “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Maybe you’re just tone deaf.”

“I resent that! I took band in the fifth grade, thank you very much.” Michael laughed.

“And why did you quit?”

Jeremy was silent a moment. “I couldn’t tell the difference in the notes.”

Michael let out a victorious shout, reaching with one hand to poke Jeremy on the nose. “See? Tone deaf!” He poked with each words. Jeremy scrunched his nose and quickly jerked his head up to bite Michael’s finger.

“Hey!” Michael cried. His cheeks were darker now, though Jeremy wasn’t sure why. “Stop distracting the driver?”

“Oh, I’m distracting, am I?” Jeremy asked dramatically, laying fully back in the seat. His legs were stretched as far apart as they could go in the small space.

Michael was silent for a long moment. If they had been messaging on Tumblr or talking through the AoTD headsets, Jeremy would have thought he’d done something wrong. Overstepped some invisible line or made Michael uncomfortable. But being there in person with Michael was amazing, and for the first time he didn’t panic when he’d rendered Michael speechless. The air was still companionable and comfortable, with only a minor tension that Jeremy couldn’t place.

“Yes,” Michael said finally. “You are. Now shut your whore legs and sit up.” He tapped Jeremy’s knee lightly as he spoke, a smile on his lips. Jeremy did as he was told, trying to discreetly cross his legs without Michael realizing why. _That_ would be a way to end the happy, comfortable feeling they had between them.

—

Jeremy decided that Michael’s PT Cruiser was his favorite place in the whole world. As Michael drove them back to his house in the midst of Red Bank, Jeremy felt this enormous weight lift off his shoulders and float away. Their friendship was exactly the same (hell, maybe even _better_ ) as it was online, and what a relief that was. There was no awkwardness to be seen, despite the fact that Jeremy always felt awkward. Not in Michael’s car. In Michael’s car, everything was right. It was just him and Michael, and it was easy to pretend that the entire world was just the inside of that car.

Michael was chiding him in his taste in music when they finally pulled up to a two-story house at the end of a long road. 

“I just can’t get how you listen to Top 40 garbage,” Michael was ranting. Jeremy held up his hands in mock defense.

“I just listen to what shows up on the radio,” he said. Michael sighed, exasperated.

“That’s the point! The radio sucks, Jeremy.” Michael parked and turned off the car, but they didn’t get out for a moment. Not yet. Jeremy knew he wasn’t ready to let go of whatever was happening in there, to risk it evaporating when the doors opened.

“Well, then I guess you’ll just have to teach me what good music is,” Jeremy replied, his voice light and teasing. Michael pushed up his glasses.

“I guess I will!”

Jeremy was content to stay in the car forever, despite the bite of cold air starting to seep in, but a woman stepped out from the front door and shouted at them.

“Michael Thomas, it’s freezing out there! You get inside right now before you make Jeremy catch a cold.” The woman was blonde, her curly hair tied up in a messy bun. She was wearing a paint smock that was splattered with various colors of paint. She was nothing like Jeremy expected one of Michael’s moms to be.

Michael shook his head a little and opened his door. “We’re coming in right now!”

Mrs. Mell placed her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrows, but did not move. Michael sighed.

“We’d better get inside before she drags us in by the hair.” Michael climbed out of the car. Jeremy made sure not to pout as he followed suit, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. Michael got the suitcase out of the trunk and Jeremy tried to grab for it.

“Back off, man!” Michael shouted, a laugh in his voice. The two wrestled over the suitcase, Jeremy determined not to have Michael waiting on him hand and foot. It was more playful than anything, but Jeremy was determined to win.

Until his foot slipped on a patch of ice and he went tumbling into the snow. He let out a cry, but didn’t release his grip on the suitcase. The next thing he knew- Jeremy, the suitcase, and Michael were all splayed out in the snow.

“Oh!” Michael’s mom’s hands flew to her mouth as she started to laugh.

“Ugh,” Jeremy moaned, lifting his head.

“I-I’m sorry,” Michael’s mom wheezed between giggles. She stumbled down the porch steps. “Are you two okay?” She reached down to help Jeremy up. He blinked blearily, looking up at her through watery eyes. She didn’t look like a mom to him. Vaguely, he realized that was because he didn’t really know what a mom was supposed to be like.

He belatedly took her hand and she helped pull him up. She fussed over him lightly, brushing snow off his cardigan. His winter coat (three years old from the thrift store) was packed in his suitcase as he hadn’t wanted to deal with it on the plane.

“Thanks,” Jeremy murmured. He shivered a little.

“I’m fine,” Michael said sarcastically from the ground. He pushed the suitcase away from him. Jeremy made a face, whirling around.

“Ah, sorry, Micah,” he said. Hurriedly, he made to help Michael up and out of the snow. His sweatshirt couldn’t have been much warmer than Jeremy’s cardigan, after all.

“Micah?” Jeremy heard Mrs. Mell repeat softly, but he just knelt down to help Michael up. Michael looked dazed (maybe from the snow?) and fumbled for a moment before taking Jeremy’s hand. He pulled Michael to his feet and they both looked down at the suitcase.

Mrs. Mell sighed out an exasperated, “Boys!” and grabbed the suitcase herself.

“Let’s get you two dried off and warmed up,” she said, herding the two of them into the house. 

—

Stacy, as Michael’s mother introduced herself, was a bit of a painter, if her paint-splattered smock wasn’t enough to tell you that. The entire living room floor was newspapered and two half-painted easels were standing in the middle of the room.

“You’re really good,” Jeremy commented. Stacy huffed, waving a careless hand at the paintings.

“Hardly. It’s just a hobby.” Jeremy snorted.

“I see where Michael gets his modesty from.” Michael shoved Jeremy lightly. “What? It’s true.”

Stacy rolled her eyes affectionately. “Are you hungry, Jeremy? Flying always works up an appetite. I can make you boys a snack if you’d like?” 

Jeremy shrugged. “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Dude, no. You’re eating some food,” Michael decided, pinching lightly at Jeremy’s stomach. Jeremy swatted his hand away. “Can we have pizza rolls?”

“You really don’t have to,” Jeremy tried to say. But his stomach growled loudly, ruining his whole “I’m not hungry” facade. He felt bad, having Stacy make him food.

“Well that’s too bad, because I’m going to. Go on downstairs. I’ll be down with the pizza rolls in a bit.” Stacy headed off to the kitchen and Michael took the opportunity to drag Jeremy down to the basement, which he had claimed as his room about a year ago. The entire basement was his bedroom, which was all sorts of cool.

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur. Michael and Jeremy played AoTD, which was much more fun when both players were in the same room, and ate so many pizza rolls that Jeremy thought he was going to turn into one.

Stacy had even kissed him on top of the head, which he sort of marveled at. Was that how moms typically treated their kids? She’d done the same thing to Michael, so he supposed so.

“Alina will be home in a bit,” Stacy said as she collected their dirty plates. Again, Jeremy felt bad about her waiting on them, but he kept his mouth shut. “When is your dad getting here?”

“He said he’d be off work at six, so sometime after that?” Jeremy guessed. He was struck with the realization that he was going to be meeting his father for the first time ever in under an hour. He could almost feel a panic attack welling up inside of him, but just then Michael placed a hand on his shoulder.

“Cool, you might get to meet her.” He said as Stacy ruffled their heads and then walked up the stairs, making sure to shut the door behind her. Jeremy guessed she didn’t want to listen to zombies being shot while she painted.

“Alina’s my birthmom,” Michael said. His hand was still on Jeremy’s shoulder, for which Jeremy was grateful. The contact helped keep his panic at bay.

“Do you call your moms by their names?” Jeremy asked. He shoved the last of the pizza rolls into his mouth.

“When they’re both around or I gotta specify who I’m talking about,” Michael replied easily. “Otherwise I call ‘em ‘Mom’.” Jeremy nodded.

“Makes sense.”

“You nervous?” Michael asked. Jeremy looked over at him. He really was a lot cuter in person. And yeah, his constant presence next to Jeremy was flustering at times, but nervous? Jeremy had never felt more at ease than when he was around Michael. “I mean, meeting your dad for the first time is gonna be weird, right?”

Oh. He was talking about _that_.

“I mean,” Jeremy said, swallowing. “Sort of? Yes. I don’t know what to expect, like, at all. What if he’s terrible? Or worse, what if he’s awesome but he realizes how terrible I am?”

“You are not terrible,” Michael said fiercely. “Not even a little bit.” 

Jeremy’s voice was small. “But what if he thinks so?”

“Then he’s stupid, and you can come live in the basement with me. Win, win,” Michael let his hand drop and laughed like it was a joke. Jeremy laughed to, though he wished it was a serious offer. He’d take it in a heartbeat.

“And hey,” Michael dug into the pocket of his hoodie and pulled out his cell phone, “we should exchange numbers. Kind of weird that we haven’t yet, right?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed. He pulled out his own phone and opened the contacts app. 

“This way we can text while I’m in school,” Michael explained. He took Jeremy’s phone and put his number in quickly. “And if you ever need me, I’ll be there.”

“That’s-” Jeremy started, feeling a lump grow in his throat. “That sounds great. Thanks, Micah.”

“Of course. That’s what best friends are for, right?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the girl on the plane was supposed to be Chloe, but I couldn't find a good way for her to introduce herself so, uh, make of that what you will.


	5. Football and the City

Jeremy’s dad was… not what he expected. He was tall, burly, and overall the exact opposite of Jeremy. He had a beard that could have been Santa’s had it been white instead of brown. The only way Jeremy could see that they had any similarities was their awkwardness. Dad was definitely just as awkward as Jeremy was. Perhaps that was the only thing Jeremy had inherited from him.

It was Sunday and Jeremy was up super early. The house was so unfamiliar, so foreign, that he’d had a rough time sleeping. The night before, after Dad had picked him up from Michael’s, had been… weird to say the least. They’d gone to a Chinese restaurant for dinner, making idle small talk about Jeremy’s school. What classes he liked, was he in any clubs at school, that sort of thing. Jeremy had crashed pretty quickly once they’d gone back to the house, so there hadn’t been a whole lot of bonding (or whatever was supposed to be happening on this trip) yet.

So he was up by eight o’clock. He sat up in bed in the guest room. It was right next to the room Dad had shown him as his potential room, which had given him a weird feeling in his stomach. He fiddled with his phone a little, half wanting to text Michael now that he had the ability. He hovered his finger over the **Player One** contact, as Michael had dubbed himself in Jeremy’s phone. He’d edited Jeremy’s contact information in his own phone to be **Player Two**. 

He’d just typed out a “good morning” text, already second-guessing sending it, when his dad walked into the guest room without knocking. Panicked, Jeremy threw his phone down on the bed, which then bounced and landed on the floor with a pathetic crash. Jeremy winced, knowing it had cracked yet again.

“Hey kiddo,” Dad said, blessedly ignoring the phone-throwing, which made Jeremy look awfully guilty of _something_ , “get ready. I’ve got a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” Jeremy repeated. “Um, okay.” He was so thrown off by the idea of a surprise that he didn’t even reprimand his dad for barging in unannounced. He’d have to remember to touch on that later.

He got up and got dressed. He almost forgot about his phone completely when he heard his phone buzz. He picked it up from the ground, grimacing when he saw that he’d sent the “good morning” text.

 **Me** : good morning!

Ugh, why did he use an exclamation point? That looked so…. _enthusiastic_. Which, you know, he was. But he didn’t want Michael to know that! Below that, though, was Michael’s response.

 **Player One** : morning, you’re up early. rough night?

His concern warmed Jeremy. With a small smile on his lips, he replied.

 **Me** : not too bad. dad has some surprise tho

 **Player One** : good surprise or bad surprise

 **Me** : lmao i think good but i rlly have no clue

Jeremy headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. After that, he deemed himself as ready as he would ever be for this “surprise”, whatever it was. He headed down the stairs and found his dad in the living room. He was wearing New York Giants jersey and hat. He was holding two tickets in his hand.

“Um,” Jeremy said, before his dad exclaimed, “Surprise!”

Dad looked so excited that Jeremy couldn’t help but paste a smile on his face. He feigned surprise and excitement as best he could. 

"I got the tickets from a coworker who has season tickets,” Dad explained. “I figured, hey, everyone likes football, right? Thought we could head in now and see the city a little before the game.” He held out another blue baseball cap for Jeremy. Jeremy stared at it a little, a mixture of feeling swirling inside him. He took the hat and placed it on top of his head, beaming. 

“Sounds great, Dad.” His dad smiled so hard Jeremy thought his face might break in two, so he guessed he’d made the right choice. Who cared if Jeremy hated pretty much any and all sports? His dad was trying, and that was more than enough.

 **Me** : football tickets

 **Player One** : what

 **Me** : we’re going to the giants game………..

 **Player One** : yikes…… maybe it won’t be so bad?

 **Me** : i mean it’s more than my mom would have done

 **Player One** : so good surprise?

 **Me** : yeah. good surprise

—

 **Player One** : ugh i hate school

 **Player One** : and biology

 **Player One** : and history

 **Me** : that sucks bro. if u want i can help w bio tonight. and hist depending on what it’s on

Jeremy sat next to his dad, a hot dog and a Coke in his lap. They were decently in the middle, about halfway down in the stadium. His dad kept repeating, “Great seats, great seats” over and over, like a nervous tic, so Jeremy assumed they would have a good view once the game actually started. Not that he knew anything about football or would be able to follow the game at all, but still.

“So, who’s your team?” Dad asked, yelling to be heard over the din of the crowd. Jeremy had to think a minute before recalling who the Detroit football team was.

“Uh, Lions, I guess,” he shouted back. “I don’t follow them too closely.” Or at all, he added mentally. He looked down at his phone. Even with the stadiums shitty WiFi, the signal was weak inside. Either Michael had yet to reply, or it had yet to be delivered. Either way, it meant Jeremy had nothing to read.

Dad grimaced. “The Lions suck, son.”

Jeremy snorted. “That’s what everyone says.” The two laughed a little and for the first time, Jeremy felt like he was bonding with a parent. 

**Player One** : that sounds great

 **Player One** : if only hw was the worst part of school. life would be grand

 **Me** : have things been worse at school?

 **Player One** : i mean not really. just the same.

 **Player One** : it’s just that the same kinda sucks you know

 **Me** : u wanna talk about it?

Michael didn’t respond right away. Or maybe the signal was just sucking extra right when he needed it to work.

“Everything okay?” Dad asked, nodding down towards the phone in Jeremy’s hand.

“Yeah, just texting Michael,” Jeremy replied.

“You seem kinda… glued,” Dad said, a little awkwardly. He took a large bite of his hot dog and a little piece of the bun fell into his beard. Jeremy played with the phone, tossing it back and forth in his hands. He shrugged.

“It’s just nice to be able to talk to him whenever,” Jeremy confessed. “He’s, like, my only friend.” His dad frowned at that.

“Really? You don’t have any friends at your school?” Jeremy shook his head. He rubbed his ear roughly.

“Nope. Just Michael.”

Dad looked like he wanted to say something about that, but he chose to take a sip of his Mountain Dew instead.

 **Player One** : i mean, yes, but i don’t wanna sway you

 **Me** : sway me?

 **Player One** : you know what i mean. you should want to move here to be with your dad

 **Me** : uh news flash ur like half the reason i’m considering moving here already so u can say whatever. u’ve already swayed me

The game started. Jeremy jumped when his dad shot to his feet, cheering as the Giants came out on the field. Belatedly, Jeremy scrambled to stand and cheer, too. He finished his hot dog quickly as everyone sat back down. 

The game was actually mildly interesting. Dad must have figured that Jeremy didn’t know the rules too well, because he kept explaining things about the game without Jeremy having to ask. Jeremy would probably never like football, but he had to admit it wasn’t quite so bad when he actually knew what was going on.

It was almost at the end of the first quarter when he finally got another text from Michael. Silently, Jeremy cursed the MetLife Stadium’s subpar WiFi.

 **Player One** : school’s just… lonely, you know?

 **Player One** : like i don’t have any friends there or anything

 **Player One** : most of the time rich is just giving me shit for being a loner

 **Player One** : idk i feel selfish wishing you would move here just so i won’t be alone at school

 **Me** : ur not selfish. at all. and anyway i feel the same way

 **Me** : school would be a lot better if u were there

The game went on and Jeremy actually found himself jumping up to cheer when the Giants got a touchdown. By the end of the game, even though the Giants lost, Jeremy and his dad were in pretty good moods. Dad was singing the Giants’ fight song, sounding like he was half-drunk, as they walked out of the stadium.

The train car they were in was mostly empty, so they were able to sit across from each other. It was about an hour ride back to Red Bank, so they had some time to kill. Jeremy (predictably) texted Michael.

Dad watched silently as Jeremy texted for a few minutes before finally speaking up. “I thought I was making the right choice, you know.”

Jeremy looked up from his phone. “Right choice about what?”

“About letting your mother keep you with her.” Dad had lost that jovial air he’d had after the game. It was like it had been seeped out of him when they’d boarded the train. He looked lost, sad. Broken, somehow. “I could have fought for you. I _should_ have fought for you.”

Jeremy’s throat felt dry and he tried to swallow. “What do you mean?”

His dad was silent and Jeremy thought he looked almost… ashamed. “It was just a normal day, you know. I didn’t know anything was wrong. I just came home from work and the two of you were gone. No divorce papers, no notice, nothing. She just took you and left.

“My friend’s husband even outright said that what she’d done was kidnapping. She didn’t get custody from a judge. She had no right to take you from me, but she did. But I was stupid. She convinced me that you were better off with her and… I don’t know if I believed her, but I wanted to.”

Jeremy didn’t know what to say, so he didn’t say anything. He felt vaguely like he’d been kicked in the gut. His mom had kidnapped him.

“So what do we do now?”

—

“How- how do you even process something like that?” Jeremy asked, later that day. He was flopped back on Michael’s bed. Michael was sitting up by the headboard, twisting and untwisting the cord of his headphones between his fingers.

“I dunno,” Michael replied. “That’s a lot to take in. Dude, I’m so sorry.”

Jeremy rolled over onto his stomach then pushed himself up so he was sitting on his knees facing Michael. “It’s not your fault,” he said.

Michael shrugged. “But I still feel bad that it happened. And I wish I could do something to help.”

“Being here is enough.” And it was. Jeremy had never had someone to vent to, to talk through his problems with. It was surprisingly helpful, even if there really wasn’t anything Michael could do or say to make the situation better.

For once, Michael wasn’t wearing his sweatshirt. He wore a short-sleeved Captain America T-shirt. Jeremy could see Michael’s Pac Man tattoo in person for the first time. Michael noticed him staring (Jeremy didn’t have much experience in being _subtle_ ) and a grin grew on his face.

“That’s what we should do!” Without warning, Michael jumped off the bed. The movement bounced Jeremy, who was unbalanced enough already, and he flopped off the bed to the floor. “Dude, sorry! But we can go get you a tattoo! If you want, I mean.”

“A Pac Man tattoo?” Jeremy asked, taking Michael’s proffered hand and pulling himself to his feet.

“If you want. You could get something else.”

“No, Pac Man would be cool,” so would having matching tattoos with Michael, “but how much would it cost?”

Michael was already tugging on his sweatshirt and grabbing for his keys and wallet. “Don’t worry, it’s on me.”

Jeremy followed Michael up the stairs, arguing over who would be paying for the tattoo. Michael called it a late birthday present. Jeremy pointed out that Michael had bought him comic books for his birthday. 

“Just shut up and take the present,” Michael said, exasperated. “I’m buying it and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

“Where are you two going?” Alina asked from her place in the living room. She and Stacy were cuddled up on the couch, watching a movie. Michael looked just like his biological mother, to the point that he’d almost believe that Michael was just a carbon copy of his mom.

“The city,” Michael answered, handing Jeremy his winter coat. Jeremy was starting to catch onto the fact that people in New Jersey tended to just refer to NYC as “the city”. He thought it was kind of weird, considering that Red Bank was a city. So was Jersey City. There were many other cities out there, so why was New York “The City”?

“Uh, no you’re not,” Alina said with a disbelieving laugh. “It’s eight o’clock at night. You, mister, have school tomorrow.”

“Ugh, Mom!” Michael complained. “I’ll be fine.”

“No way,” Stacy said, pushing herself up to face the boys. “You two are not wandering the city after dark by yourselves. End of discussion.” Michael looked like he wanted to argue some more.

“You can go tomorrow after school,” Alina decided. “Whatever you want to do can wait until then.”

The two trudged back downstairs, Michael grumbling about his moms ruining everything.

“It’s not that big a deal, Micah,” Jeremy said, trying to soothe him. He patted Michael’s back softly and felt Michael relax instantly. “We’ll just go tomorrow.”

Michael half-smiled. “Just don’t want you chickening out on me, man.”

Jeremy feigned like he was hurt. “Chicken out on you? Never! I’m insulted you would think so.”

Michael snorted. “Yeah right.” They ended up playing Mario Kart for the rest of the night until Alina insisted Michael take Jeremy home.

They did not go to the city the next day. Michael was inundated with Biology homework and Jeremy’s dad took him on a tour of Red Bank that ended up lasting until well after dinnertime. It was dark before Jeremy was dropped off at Michael’s, and the same issue arose.

On Tuesday, they went to the pier. It was Stacy’s idea for both families (her words, not Jeremy’s) to get to know each other a bit. Jeremy had a feeling she wanted to judge for herself whether or not Dad was a good parent to Jeremy. They had dinner at this little 50’s style diner and saw a movie in the theater. Michael and Jeremy shared a popcorn and a drink. Jeremy tried hard not to read into that.

Before Jeremy had realized, it was Saturday afternoon. A full week since his arrival in New Jersey. Halfway through his trip. Michael had decided enough was enough.

“We’re getting your tattoo today,” he insisted, “even if it kills me.”

“Well, let’s home it doesn’t come to that,” Jeremy said, rolling his eyes.

It was about two seconds into the train ride to New York when Jeremy began panicking over pretty much anything you could panic about when it came to getting a tattoo.

“Does it hurt a lot?” Jeremy asked at least three times.

“The outline does, yeah, but it’s manageable. The coloring doesn’t hurt at all,” Michael answered easily. He gave Jeremy an awfully endearing smile that melted half of his fears away without even trying.

“Are you sure they won’t I.D. me?” He asked with much less anxiety. Michael shoved him lightly.

“They won’t. Now stop worrying. You’re ruining the experience.”

“Really?” Jeremy asked, over dramatic. “I’m ruining the experience?” He spoke in a baby voice, making a face at Michael. Michael laughed, shoving him so hard that he bumped into the older woman to his left.

“Sorry!” He squeaked when she glowered at him.

Belatedly, Jeremy thought to text his dad. He figured Dad would want to know that he was leaving the state, so he dug his phone out of his coat pocket.

 **Me** : going to nyc w michael

 **Dad** : Good. Can’t get enough of the city, can you?

 **Me** : guess not

 **Dad** : Have fun. Tell Michael to have you back by five for dinner. He’s welcome to join us if you want.

The tattoo parlor was shady as hell, but Jeremy did his best to walk in like he had some confidence, like he belonged there. Michael greeted the artist at the counter.

“Hey, Sheila! This is my friend, Jeremy,” Michael said, patting Jeremy on the arm affectionately. “He wants to get a tattoo.”

Sheila raised an eyebrow. “Can Jeremy talk for himself?”

Jeremy cleared his throat. “Uh, yeah,” he said awkwardly. “I want to get the same tattoo Micah got?” He spoke like it was a question and inwardly cringed at himself. He noticed Michael’s smile grow, but he didn’t know why. Did Michael just really want to buy him a tattoo? Probably, he’d been talking about it for a while now.

Sheila nodded. She slid a form across the counter. “Fill this out and come to the back. You’re eighteen, right?”

“Right,” both boys said in unison. Sheila looked like she didn’t believe them, but also like she really didn’t care. Nice. That actually eased some of his anxiety.

Jeremy filled out the form as honestly as he could, only fibbing on his birthdate so it said he was eighteen instead of sixteen. His hands shook a little as he and Michael walked back to the chair. 

“Left arm?” Sheila asked. She had the needle inked and ready. Jeremy gawked at it for a moment, imagining how it was about to feel as it punctured his skin over and over.

“Uh, right,” he said. “I mean, my right arm, please.” Sheila smacked her gum and slid on her rolling stool so she was on the right side of the chair. Jeremy sat down and almost automatically, Michael took his left hand.

“It’s easier if you’ve got a buddy,” Michael explained when Jeremy sent him a questioning look. His hand felt nice in Jeremy’s, so he left it alone.

It hurt. It hurt like a fucking bitch. He squeezed Michael’s hand so tight that Michael even started complaining about the pain. He only shut up when Sheila called them both babies.

It only took about an hour, but by the end Jeremy’s arm was mostly numb. Sheila wrapped it in a clear plastic and gave him a sheet on how to care for it as it healed. Jeremy took his as he sort of stared (marveled) at his new tattoo. It looked just like Michael’s. A mirror image, just like he’d wanted. 

“Hey, Jer, you ready to go?” Michael asked, pulling him from his reverie. He stood on Jeremy’s right side. “Looks good, right?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy agreed. “Thanks. For, you know, paying for it. And suggesting it. Just- thanks.” Michael beamed and bumped him gently in the shoulder.

“Anytime.”

“Hey, hold yours out, too.” Michael complied and pulled up his left sleeve. He held his dark arm next to Jeremy’s painfully pale one, Pac Man against Pac Man. A sneaky little thought wiggled its way into Jeremy’s brain. If Jeremy were only to grab Michael’s hand (and maybe never let go), their tattoos would be pressed up against each other. The thought made him smile.

“You ready to head out?” Michael asked again after a moment. Jeremy let his arm drop and nodded.

“Yeah, we can go.”

Looking up at Michael like that made Jeremy’s stomach flip and a thought occurred to him. A painfully obvious thought that he’d never realized before.

He was a little (a lot) in love with Michael.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just say how much I adore and appreciate all of your comments? Every time I get one, I find myself unable to stop smiling. Thank you all so much for your love of this story!


	6. The Last Night

Jeremy didn’t know how to act, once he’d had his revelation. He did his best to act the same, but what really was the same? He’d gone from just thinking his best friend was cute and sweet and the best person on the face of the planet to realizing he was in love with him!

Had he always been in love with Michael? Maybe. But maybe being here, with him, in person had amplified it? Accelerated it? Jeremy had no clue, but he knew where he was now. He was one of those saps in love with their best friend.

The rest of the week, of his _trip_ seemed to fly by. Jeremy found himself actually enjoying spending time with his dad, finding more similarities between them than he’d originally thought. He hung out with Michael almost every day, even though more often than not he found himself floundering over every little thing Michael did.

They were sitting in Michael’s basement, playing Mario Kart. It was the night before Jeremy had to fly back to Michigan. They were doing their very best not to talk about it, but Jeremy’s impending departure was a palpable tension in the air.

“Come on, come on, come- agh!” Michael groaned, throwing himself backwards. Jeremy snickered as his character (Luigi) danced and cheered as the winner, while Michael’s (Bowser) came in second place. Michael continued to lay back, flattening his beanbag, and groan loudly. Jeremy knew he was purposefully being overdramatic and whiny, but… Jeremy’s laugh died away as he scanned his best friend’s body. He pulled his knees up to his chest quickly, circling his arm around his legs to keep them in place.

“You really suck at this,” Jeremy commented, clearing his throat in an attempt to keep his voice light. “I thought you were supposed to be good at video games?”

Michael shot up (thank god) and gasped, clearly offended. “You take that back! It’s the stupid Wii. If we were playing on the Nintendo 64 I would have kicked your ass and you know it!” Jeremy shrugged nonchalantly and took a long sip of his Coke. “I would have!”

“Sure you would’ve, Micah,” Jeremy said. “I believe you.”

Michael pushed his glasses up his nose, color flooding his cheeks. Jeremy wondered if that was how Michael would look after he’d been kissed. All blushing and dazed and _adorable_. Jeremy felt his own cheeks heat up and he looked away as Michael scoffed.

“I would have!”

“And I’m saying I believe you.” Jeremy picked at the ancient carpet.

“Liar.”

The corners of Jeremy’s lips twitched upwards. “At least I don’t suck at Mario Kart.”

Michael gasped dramatically again and tackled Jeremy, pinning him against the carpet. Jeremy gaped up at him, feeling acutely like the entire world had just melted away. Oh god, he was so far gone, wasn’t he?

“Take it back!” Michael cried, holding Jeremy’s hands with one of his own. He held his free hand up, wiggling his fingers. Jeremy’s heart pounded, but he didn’t struggle.

“Never,” Jeremy said. “I’m better at Mario Kart than-” He broke out into shrieked laughter as Michael started tickling him. He kicked feebly and wriggled under Michael, who was laughing alongside Jeremy.

“Take it back,” he said again.

“N-never!” Jeremy repeated through his laughter, fighting back as Michael tickled him some more. “D-dude!”

“I won’t stop until you take it back,” Michael said, bending down close to Jeremy’s face. Jeremy couldn’t help but think that all he needed to do was lift his chin a little and his lips would meet Michael’s…

Just then, the door to the basement swung open, revealing Stacy. She looked down at them unamused, hands going to her hips.

“Uh, hi Mom?” Michael said awkwardly, scrambling to get off of Jeremy. Stacy’s eyebrows were raised, but she seemed to make the choice not to comment on what she’d just witnessed. It was probably for the best, considering Jeremy didn’t know what he would say. They were just messing around? True, but not in the way Stacy would take that to mean (not in the way Jeremy wanted to be).

The three of them were silent, the only sound being the racing music from Mario Kart.

Stacy cleared her throat, shaking her head a little. “I just wanted to see if you were staying for dinner, Jeremy?”

Jeremy shook his head. “No, Dad wants to take me out to eat.Y’know, since it’s the last…” He trailed off, glancing over at Michael. Michael looked upset, staring down at his legs and fiddling with the drawstring of his hoodie. 

Stacy hummed lightly. “That’s too bad. But I’m sure you’ll have a nice night with your dad.” Jeremy tried to smile, but even though he’d just been laughing his ass off, he suddenly found it impossible.

“Yeah.”

Stacy held out her arms for a hug and Jeremy got to his feet and hugged her. This entire trip, he’d been amazed by the amount of hugs he’d gotten. The Mells were a very hug-oriented family, he’d learned. He loved it, though. Hugs from the Mells (particularly from Michael) were his new favorite things in the entire world.

“I’ll miss you,” Stacy said, sounding almost like she was going to cry. But that was crazy, wasn’t it? He’d only known her for two weeks, so why would she cry over him leaving?

“Me too,” Jeremy replied, stepping back. She _did_ have tears in her eyes, much to Jeremy’s surprise. “I’ll, uh, call?” He offered and she nodded.

“I’ve got some errands to run,” she said, “so I’ll probably be gone when you leave. Just, let us know when you land tomorrow, okay? I need to know you’re safe.”

Her concern was truly touching. He nodded wordlessly, finding himself unable to speak. With one odd look to Michael, she kissed him lightly on the forehead and left, careful to shut the door behind her.

“Sorry about her,” Michael said after a moment. He was sitting on his beanbag again, fiddling with the strap for the Wii controller. “She gets attached easily.”

“Don’t be,” Jeremy said. “I do, too.” Michael’s mouth twitched, but it didn’t smile.

“Yeah, you’re kinda like a stray puppy, aren’t you?” Jeremy plopped down on his beanbag and leaned onto Michael’s side.

“Maybe. But you like strays, don’t you?” Michael turned his head and looked at him.

“Maybe.”

Without thinking, Jeremy leaned forward and pressed his lips against Michael’s. One arm supported him from the ground and the other tentatively came up and rested on Michael’s shoulder. He didn’t know what he was doing. He’d never kissed anyone before, only ever seen it on TV and in movies, so he was sort of improvising. He thought maybe, maybe Michael was kissing him back, though he seemed to be sitting there, perfectly still-

Shit.

Jeremy pulled back quickly, cheeks burning painfully as his brain finally caught up with the rest of him and he realized what he’d just done. He’d just _kissed Michael_. Oh god. Oh god, oh god, oh god. He’d just fucked everything up.

God, he could hear his mother in his ear. “This is why you can’t have nice things, Jeremy. You ruin them every time.” And she was right. The one good thing in his life, his best friend in the entire world, and he’d just gone and ruined it. All because he had to go and catch feelings.

Michael was staring at him, looking dazed and confused. His cheeks were as red as Jeremy’s felt, but Jeremy knew they weren’t blushing for the same reason. Michael’s glasses with a little askew and he slowly made to fix them.

Jeremy scrambled back, as if he didn’t trust himself not to kiss Michael again.

“Jeremy?” Michael asked, his voice soft, cautious. Jeremy shook his head. He couldn’t take this. He could not, in this life, handle Michael flat out rejecting him. He would rather die. 

He stood up, reaching for his backpack. “I-I have to go. Dinner with my dad…. yeah.” With that, he bolted up the stairs before Michael could even react. Alina was coming down from the second floor and paused on the steps as Jeremy burst from the basement and beelined for the front door.

“Jeremy?” She called, but he didn’t stop. He couldn’t. How could he tell Alina how he’d just screwed everything up? God, she’d probably agree with his mom, tell him how he was a fuck up and it was only inevitable that he’d ruin his friendship with Michael.

His dad wasn’t due to pick him up for another half hour, but Jeremy couldn’t wait. And there was no way he’d ask Alina (or even worse, Michael) for a ride. So, he walked. His dad’s house wasn’t _that_ far from Michael’s.

—

His dad was a blessing, that much Jeremy had come to realize. He’d looked concerned when Jeremy had shown up at the house, freezing and clearly distressed. But he hadn’t said anything beside, “Alright, son?” He understood that Jeremy would offer information if he wanted to. And Jeremy was so grateful for that, especially right then. He was so grateful to have someone that he could talk to, but also didn’t have to talk to.

They went to an Italian restaurant on the pier for dinner. It was slightly fancier than Jeremy was expecting, and he felt out of place in his blue T-shirt and striped cardigan. His only solace was the fact that his dad was just as underdressed as he was. He wore an NYU T-shirt.

“Did you go to NYU?” Jeremy asked when his dad shrugged off his coat. His dad shook his head.

“No, but it was a gift. From a Secret Santa thing at work one year.” Jeremy nodded and didn’t ask any more. He grabbed a piece of bread and started pulling it apart bit by bit.

They talked idly as they perused the menu and chose what they wanted to eat. Jeremy learned that his dad was not a fancy person and didn’t even know what the various different types of pasta were. With a smile, Jeremy leaned over and helped his dad find something he would like to eat.

He had just ordered cheese ravioli for himself and baked ziti for Dad when his phone buzzed.

“Michael?” Dad asked knowingly. Jeremy’s stomach twisted uncomfortably. Rejection over text would hurt just as much, he suspected. He half wanted to throw his phone across the room and watch it shatter to bits instead of read the text, but he opened it anyway.

 **Player One** : is it still cool if i come to the airport w you tomorrow?

Jeremy furrowed his eyebrows. Michael… still wanted to go to the airport and see him off?

 **Me** : if u want

 **Me** : don’t u have school?

 **Player One** : alina said i could skip so long as i don’t tell stacy lmao

Jeremy chuckled a little. Michael was acting normal. That was good. That _was_ good, right? Normal was good. Normal was better than the alternative, anyway.

“It’s been nice, hasn’t it?” Dad asked. Jeremy looked up from his phone and at his father. Dad looked just like he had two weeks ago when Jeremy had first arrived. Big, gruff, and scared. “Being here?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy answered honestly. “I wish I didn’t have to leave.”

Dad smiled, looking a little broken but on the mend. He looked like he wanted to say something, but was trying so hard to hold it back. Jeremy knew what that felt like, so he took a long sip of his pop and spoke again.

“I think… I think I want to move here. With you.” He paused. “If that’s still okay, I mean.”

“I- of course it’s still okay!” Dad choked out. He blinked a few times, like he didn’t quite believe what he was hearing. “Of course it is. Being so close to Michael means that much to you, eh?” He joked, but Jeremy could see that he believed it.

“It’s not all about Michael,” he was quick to say. He was surprised to find that he was telling the truth. “Not even mostly about him, I swear.” Well, maybe it was, like, 45% for Michael. But Dad didn’t need to know that. “I really like it here. I like the area and your house and… being here. With you, I mean.” Jeremy winced at how awkward he sounded. He ran a hand through his hair, tugging on the ends. 

His dad looked speechless. “Well,” he croaked after a moment, his voice laced with emotion, “I’d be glad to have you. I’ve loved having you these past two weeks.” Jeremy nodded.

“So, what happens now?” He asked. 

“I’ll get in touch with that lawyer friend of mine,” Dad responded, “and we’ll see how quick we can get you here.”

Their food arrived and they began to discuss the logistics of Jeremy moving in with his dad. They both knew that Jeremy’s mom was not going to let this happen easily.

“It may be rough,” Dad warned, spooning some of his ziti and taking a bite. “She’ll be a bitch in the courtroom. Uh, sorry. I shouldn’t call your mom a bitch.

“I mean, she kind of is,” Jeremy agreed. His dad gave him a look, half joking and half warning. “You said it, not me!”

On the way back to his dad’s house (to his future home!!), Jeremy texted Michael.

 **Me** : looks like i’m gonna be moving here sometime soon

 **Player One** : dude, no way!!! that’s AWESOME

 **Player One** : do you know when??

 **Me** : not sure there’s probably gonna be a court battle

 **Me** : hopefully asap

—

Jeremy had never hated Michigan more than he did when he landed the next afternoon. His stomach felt like it was full of lead as he got off the plane (so much quicker than the plane to New Jersey) and went through baggage claim.

His mom was not at the airport. He called her and got no answer.

“Hey Mom, it’s me. I’m at the airport. You were supposed to be here, like, twenty minutes ago. So, uh, yeah. Bye.” He found an open spot on a bench inside and sat down. He pulled out his phone. He texted Stacy first.

 **Me** : just landed!! 

**Stacy Mell** : Good, thanks for letting me know! Get home safe.

 **Me** : i will

At least someone’s mom cared if he got home safely. He texted his dad next.

 **Me** : landed and waiting for mom. who knows when she’ll be here

 **Dad** : She’s not there?

 **Me** : didn’t even answer when i called

 **Dad** : Jeremy, I’m so sorry. I’ll call her.

 **Me** : no, don’t. i’ll just wait a bit and see if she shows up. i’ll plan how i’m gonna pack when i get there

 **Dad** : Sounds like a plan. Let me know when she shows up or if you want me to call her. I love you.

Jeremy paused at how casually he’d said it. It made him feel warm and cozy on the inside.

 **Me** : thanks, love u 2

He contemplated texting Michael, but decided not to. Things that morning at the airport had been weirdly normal. Michael hadn’t commented on the kiss at all, nor did he treat Jeremy different in any way. He had joked just the same on the car ride there, hugged him just as long as before. It was all so much the same that Jeremy almost convinced himself the kiss had been a dream. But he knew it wasn’t.

Besides, Michael had gotten caught playing hooky by Stacy right before Jeremy had gotten in line for TSA. He’d heard her yelling over the phone and he’d had the faintest idea that Michael was about to get dragged back to school.

It was half an hour later when he finally saw his mom’s car pull up in front of the Passenger Pick Up. Jeremy got up quickly, grabbing all of his things, and hurried out the door. He had been just about to call her again, but he was glad he’d waited. She would have been extra irritated if he’d called twice.

Had she always been so short with him? He couldn’t help but wonder as he climbed in the car and the first thing out of her mouth was, “Took you long enough.”

He wanted to point out that she was the one who’d kept him waiting, not the other way around, but he bit his tongue. “Hi, Mom.”

She scoffed, roughly pulling out from the line of cars and into traffic. “Don’t ‘Hi, Mom’ me.” She snapped, mocking his tone of voice. She had large sunglasses blocking the majority of her face, but otherwise looked just the same. Funny.

Jeremy didn’t know what to say to that and couldn’t help but think of how his dad would have responded. Or Stacy. Or even Alina. They would have at least said hi back.

“You know, you should really open your goddamn mouth sometime,” she said as she drove. “Put that phone away when I’m speaking to you! You are so ungrateful. You think you can just- just run off to New Jersey and life will be grand, Jeremy?”

“What?” Jeremy asked, completely lost. His phone rested in his hand and his finger traced the cracks in the screen as she ranted.

His mom slammed hard on the brake, sending Jeremy forward only to be painfully held back by the seatbelt. The light turned from yellow to red.

“I got a call today,” She replied coldly. “From your father’s lawyer. And if you think I’m letting that man corrupt you and take you away from me, then you have a fucking storm coming.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, after this chapter we're in the final act of the story!! I can't believe we're already 2/3 of the way through??? Thank you all so much for your support and love of the story and I hope you like where it ends up :)


	7. The Battle Begins

Jeremy had never spent so much time inside his room. Ever since he’d returned from New Jersey, he’d hidden out in his room from his mom. She had gone on a rampage since finding out that Dad was filing for custody. Jeremy had used the extra time in his bedroom to start packing as much as he could without his mother noticing. It wasn’t working very well.

“Where’re your Harry Potter books?” His mom asked as he walked in the door from school. It had been a rough day. Derek had been on his bus, going to one of his friends’ house, so he’d been tormented the _entire_ way home and he really wasn’t ready to deal with his mother yet. 

“What?” He asked, having hardly understood her question. She breathed hard out her nose, clearly irritated. Great.

“Your Harry Potter books,” she bit out, pointing to the empty shelf on his desk. “Where are they?”

Jeremy shrugged. They were under his bed, in a small box with “Books” written on the side, but he wasn’t about to tell her that. After a moment of her glowering, he said, “I don’t know. Guess I lost them.”

He knew she didn’t believe him. _She_ knew that he knew she didn’t believe him. But he wouldn’t admit that he’d been packing and she was torn between yelling at him for something he hadn’t admitted to have done or yelling at him for the lie he’d claimed to have done. This left them at an impasse.

Jeremy’s mom’s phone rang and she snatched it up from her pocket with lighting speed, walking away without another word to Jeremy as she spoke. It sounded like it was from her lawyer. Jeremy let out a sigh of relief and collapsed on his bed. He’d already packed his favorite pillow and blankets, leaving him with only the scratchy wool blanket from the hall closet.

His phone buzzed. He reached over to his desk and grabbed it, seeing that it was a text from his dad.

 **Dad** : It looks like we’re going to court. Your mother isn’t giving you up easily.

Jeremy frowned.

 **Me** : y does she even care?? she hates me i would have thought she’d want me gone

 **Dad** : It’s been a long time since I’ve really known your mother, Jeremy. But she’s always been the type of person who wants something just because someone else has it, or wants it.

 **Me** : well u’d think she’d try harder to make me wanna stay

 **Me** : how’s going to court gonna go down?

 **Dad** : It’ll have to be here, in New Jersey. Since this was your last legal place of residence. Your mother should be informed soon of when you both have to arrive.

Almost as if on cue, Jeremy heard his mother swear loudly from the other room.

 **Me** : yea i think she just got the news

Jeremy pulled out his earbuds and quickly put on some music to tune out his mother’s rants. He was so ready to be out of there. It was like he hadn’t realized just how awful it truly was until he’d been somewhere _better_. It had only been a few weeks, but he missed Dad and Michael so bad. He even missed Stacy and Alina, though both of Michael’s moms made a point to check up on him every few days. 

Jeremy played one of the playlists Michael had sent him on Spotify and scanned his room, looking for what else he could secretly pack. Already, most of his clothes were in boxes in the closet and all of his posters were rolled carefully and placed on top of the clothes. He was sort of surprised his mom hadn’t noticed the missing Mario poster he’d had on his wall for three years. He thought his room looked empty without it.

 **Dad** : Looks like you’ll be here next week for court. I’m going to see if you can attend the high school so you don’t fall too far behind.

 **Me** : guess that means i’ll get to know my new school asap huh

 **Dad** : That’s the plan.

—

Flying to New Jersey with his mother was ten times worse than flying by himself. He could not wait to get off the damn plane; he was even more impatient than he’d been the first time, which he hadn’t thought possible.

“Stop fidgeting,” his mother hissed, grabbing at Jeremy’s hand to still his tapping fingers. He pulled his hand away, harsher than he’d ever done in the past. His mother huffed, tossing her hair out of her face (and into Jeremy’s face). “God, I can’t wait for this whole mess to be over. All you have to do is tell the lawyers and the judge that you want to stay at home, with me. Jeremy, are you listening to me?”

“Yes, Mom,” Jeremy replied automatically, though he really wasn’t. He was looking out the window, the now familiar sight of the airport staring back. His stomach was twisting painfully, but it wasn’t because of the court battle. He knew what he was going to be saying to the judges.

His mother grabbed him by the chin and forced him to look at her. She was gentler than he had expected, but her nails still dug into his skin slightly. Enough to bite. “You are to tell them how much you love living with me. How your father has never been around. You tell them that you just want to come home with me and have nothing to do with _that man_ anymore. Do you understand?”

A flight attendant cleared his throat, pulling Jeremy’s mother’s attention away from him. He smiled gratefully at the concerned employee. “Um, ma’am, it’s time to exit the plane.”

His mother smiled sweetly, as if she hadn’t just been manhandling her child. “Of course, of course. Come on, Jeremy, we have to check into our hotel before we meet your father.”

Quietly, Jeremy followed his mom off the plane.

“I’m not going to the hotel,” Jeremy said as they waited at baggage claim for their luggage.

“Excuse me?”

“Dad’s lawyer-” His mother huffed in disapproval, but Jeremy continued anyway, “suggested I stay somewhere separate from you. The both of you, I mean. I don’t know, but I’m staying at my friend Michael’s house. His parents already said it was okay, and the lawyer seemed to think it was a great idea.”

His stomach knotted up again at the thought of staying with Michael. Michael hadn’t mentioned the kiss at all in the past few weeks. Jeremy was sure that Michael just wanted to pretend that it had never happened.

“Why is this the first time I’m hearing of this?” His mother demanded, snatching her suitcase from the conveyor belt.

 _Because I knew you’d say no._ “Sorry. I thought Dad was telling you.” Jeremy reached for his own suitcase, but his mother was stomping away. She was muttering to herself, but Jeremy couldn’t make out what she was saying.

“I hope your little friend is picking you up,” his mom said as she climbed into the cab she’d arranged for them. “Because I am not paying for an extra stop.”

“He is,” Jeremy replied hotly. At the same moment, he heard a car horn beep.

“Jeremy!” Michael called. He was three cars down in his PT Cruiser, waving wildly through the window. Jeremy couldn’t help but smile. He already felt better now that Michael was there.

Jeremy left his mother behind, ignoring her shout. Michael was climbing out of his car and coming around to meet Jeremy. Without thinking, Jeremy grabbed him by the front of his hoodie and pulled him into a tight hug. It felt like it had been eons since he’d last seen his best friend, not just three weeks. Michael clung to him, too, just as tight.

“Micah, I am so happy to see you,” Jeremy breathed, burying his nose into the crook of Michael’s neck.

“Me too, Jer,” Michael mumbled into Jeremy’s hair. He held Jeremy so tight he thought his lungs might burst, but he really didn’t mind. They pulled back some, still holding onto each other. Their noses almost touched. Jeremy marveled for a moment that Michael’s eyes had flecks of gold in them when the light hit them just right. Instinctively, Jeremy’s eyes fell to Michael’s lips. He thought about how it had felt to kiss him. How much he wanted to kiss him right then.

Jeremy pushed himself back, hands flat on Michael’s chest. His heart pounded harshly in his chest and he felt his cheeks grow red. Michael did not want Jeremy to kiss him, that much was clear. Jeremy needed to be a good friend (a good _person_ ) and respect that.

“So, uh, ready to go?” He said awkwardly. Michael nodded mutely, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Everything alright?” He asked, grabbing Jeremy’s suitcase. By now, Jeremy knew better than to argue. He shrugged.

“She’s just…”

“A lot,” they said at the same time. Jeremy cracked a grin. They both climbed into the car (mercifully, the seat was still adjusted from the last time Jeremy had ridden in there) and drove off.

—

Jeremy was sucking at acting like he didn’t want to kiss Michael. The entire night had been a struggle. Once Alina and Stacy had gotten what they had called “a satisfactory amount of time” with Jeremy, the two teenage boys had retreated to the basement. They’d spent the whole night playing video games, pointedly avoiding Mario Kart. It sent a pang into Jeremy’s heart when Michael quite literally _skipped_ Mario Kart when picking up their options for games to play.

But, he reminded himself, if that was all the rejection he had to face, then he was lucky. Lucky Michael was so nice and still wanted to be his friend even after the whole kiss fiasco.

It was the next morning and the two of them got up at six o’clock to go to school. Jeremy groaned from his place on the basement’s couch, burying his face in the pillow. Michael’s alarm was one of those really obnoxious doomsday alarms. He claimed that no other alarm ever actually woke him up. Stacy had said it was a good thing the basement was soundproofed. (She’d given the boys an odd look after saying that, but Jeremy hadn’t been able to figure out what it was.)

Michael sat up, yawning blearily and stretching. Jeremy followed suit, pointedly not looking at Michael, who had worn nothing but a white tank top and his boxers to bed.

It was the first time Jeremy had actually been kind of excited to go to school. Not totally, since school was still boring and, well, _school_ , but it was bound to be better than normal with Michael there.

“Ready to go, bud?” Michael asked, clapping Jeremy on the back as Jeremy grabbed his backpack. Michael’s eyes were shining and Jeremy thought he must be excited, too. Jeremy was shadowing Michael, so he’d have a friend in every class. This was just as much an improvement for Michael as it was for Jeremy.

“Yeah, totally,” he said. They headed upstairs, only to be greeted by Alina and Stacy.

“Took you two long enough!” Alina chided playfully. “I’ll be late to work, waiting on you.”

“You never wait on me, Mom,” Michael pointed out. Alina shook her head.

“I wanted to wish you two good luck on your first day,” Alina explained. 

“It’s not my-” Michael tried to say, but Alina was already pulling the two of them into a tight embrace. As soon as she released them, she kissed Stacy goodbye and hurried out the door.

“You two will be late if you don’t leave soon,” Stacy said after watching Alina drive off. “Don’t forget, Jeremy, you have to stop at the front office and get your visitor’s badge. Here’s ten bucks for lunch, I know Michael likes to go off-campus to get food so I hope it’s enough.” She shoved the money into his hands and pulled him into a hug of her own.

“It’s more than enough,” Jeremy said, stepping back. “You really don’t have to.” He tried to give her the money back.

“I know, but I want to.” Stacy fussed over him a little more, until Michael reminded her that they would be late if they didn’t leave soon. “Oh fine, go on. Just, have a good day, alright?”

“I’ll do my best,” Jeremy replied. He pocketed the ten dollar bill and followed Michael out the door.

“Sorry about them,” Michael said. “They’re just worried about you.”

“It’s weird,” Jeremy commented, climbing into the car. He waited until Michael was fully inside to continue. “Having parents care about you.” Michael gave him a look.

“That is the most heartbreaking thing I’ve ever heard anyone say in my life,” he deadpanned. Jeremy laughed a little, but Michael didn’t. “Things are gonna get better. I promise.”

Jeremy’s laughter died until it was just a small smile on his lips. “I’ll hold you to that.”

The entire car ride, Jeremy was distracted by how easy it would be to hold Michael’s hand while he drove. He ended up sitting on his own hands to prevent them from moving on their own, as he suspected they would.

Michael’s school was bigger than Jeremy’s, which was kind of a shock. His school even had a second floor, which was crazy to Jeremy! Getting to class on time was hard enough, but having to navigate two floors? That half seemed impossible.

Michael knew what he was doing, though, so Jeremy really just had to follow his lead. Michael was the picture of confidence in Jeremy’s eyes. His red hoodie, covered in iron-on patches, his white headphones slung comfortably around his neck. Jeremy felt like a walking noodle next to him. He felt like he was vibrating out of his skin as his anxiety started to climb, the way it always did when he was in the halls between class. So many students, so little space. It was enough to make anyone claustrophobic.

“Hey man, you okay?” Michael asked, looking worried. When Jeremy didn’t answer, Michael grabbed his hand. Jeremy finally looked over at him. It was like Michael was the only thing in focus and the rest of the world was blurred. “Jer? You alright?” His voice sounded like he was in a tunnel.

“Yeah,” Jeremy replied. “Can we just- can we get to class? The halls are kinda…” He trailed off, feeling kind of embarrassed.

Michael understood (of course he did). He nodded immediately and pulled Jeremy through the sea of people and into a mostly empty classroom. A teacher was sitting at the desk.

“Ah, Ms. Kaiser,” Michael said carefully, eyeing Jeremy as he calmed down. The response was instantaneous once they were out of the hallway. Jeremy felt a million times better, especially when Michael did not let go of his hand. “This is Jeremy.”

Ms. Kaiser looked up from where she was grading papers, a bright smile on her face. She was young and still had that glow that so many teachers seemed to lose, where she actually enjoyed teaching students.

“Oh yes, our visitor! It’s so nice to have you, Jeremy. I hope you enjoy your time at our school.”

“I hope so, too,” Jeremy said honestly.

“So are your parents thinking of moving here?” Ms. Kaiser asked curiously.

“Sort of,” Jeremy answered. Michael squeezed his hand and the tension in his shoulders relaxed. “I’ll probably be going here in a few weeks, if all goes well.” Ms. Kaiser beamed at that.

“Excellent, we can always use some fresh eyes. Feel free to take any seat you want, there are plenty empty ones.” The classroom had slowly began filling up as they’d spoken, but there were at least ten empty desks still. “I don’t do seating charts in here, so don’t worry about taking someone’s spot.”

“Thanks,” Jeremy said. He turned to Michael. “So where do you like to sit?” Michael smiled.

“Do you even have to ask?” He asked, pulling Jeremy to the back corner of the classroom. Jeremy rolled his eyes.

“Figures,” he said fondly, sliding into the seat next to Michael. Jeremy mourned quietly when Michael let go of his hand, but he knew it was for the best.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael asked, feigning offense. Jeremy smirked.

“Oh nothing, just that I should have known you were one of those troublemakers in the back of the classroom,” Jeremy replied lightly. 

“I resent that!” Michael cried, lifting a pointed finger into the air. The bell rung loudly above their heads, making Jeremy and Michael both jump a little.

“You see,” Jeremy continued haughtily, “ _I’m_ a good kid, so I always sit respectably in the middle of the classroom.”

“Yeah right,” Michael shot back, his voice dropping to a whisper as Ms. Kaiser began class. “I bet you’re one of the know-it-alls in the very front row. You little nerd.”

“And we have a guest for the time being. Jeremy, why don’t you raise your hand?” Ms. Kaiser called. Blood flooded Jeremy’s cheeks, but he raised one hand feebly into the air. The entire class turned around in their seats to stare at him. How embarrassing. The only good point was when he realized Michael was mock-staring at him, chin resting in his hands and his eyes all wide and awed. Jeremy shoved him, laughing, before quieting to listen to Ms. Kaiser lecture about Mary Shelley’s _Frankenstein_.

School went on like that as the day progressed. Things made Jeremy uncomfortable, whether it was people staring and whispering or teachers calling on him. But every time, Michael was right there to make it all okay. It made Jeremy’s heart ache.

For lunch, the two drove to 7-11 to get slurpees. Jeremy wondered out loud if they were allowed to leave campus during lunch. Michael just shrugged.

“There’s nothing in the rules saying we can’t, so I figure as long as I don’t get caught I can’t get in trouble,” he replied. Jeremy just shook his head.

“You’re a bad influence on me, you know?” Michael just shot him a wicked grin before ordering them two cherry slurpees. The girl behind the counter (because apparently you couldn’t pour your own slurpees in New Jersey, which was just weird to Jeremy) looked Michael up and down appraisingly before turning around and pouring the slurpees. Jeremy ground his teeth a little and went off to find something to eat. He picked up a ready-made sandwich and a bag of Doritos. He made a mental note to be sure to give Stacy the change when he got back to Michael’s.

They ate companionably in the student parking lot of the school. Michael munched on handfuls of Fritos while Jeremy ate his sandwich, which was not half bad.

“Dude, you need to eat a real lunch,” Jeremy said, poking Michael in the shoulder. “Chips aren’t lunch.”

Michael groaned playfully, throwing his head back against the headrest. Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and took a deep breath, trying to not let that do anything to his insides. “You sound like my moms, Jer. Both of them, at the same time.”

“Well, your moms are smart,” Jeremy replied, not quite as easily as he’d hoped. “You should listen to them.”

“Fine, I’ll be sure to get sushi tomorrow. Happy?” Jeremy wrinkled his nose.

“Sushi from 7-11?” He asked, appalled at the mere suggestion. “Ew!”

“Hey, don’t knock it until you try it,” Michael protested. “It’s actually really good!”

They headed back into the building, bickering as they went. Lunch was’t quite over yet, so the halls were still fairly empty, much to Jeremy’s relief. Michael grabbed his hand anyway and Jeremy was not going to complain. He even moved a little closer, so their matching tattoos pressed against each other through the fabric of Michael’s hoodie and Jeremy’s cardigan.

“Well, looky here!” A voice sang out. Michael tensed immediately, holding tighter onto Jeremy’s hand. Jeremy whipped around, scanning until his eyes settled on the short boy eyeing them like he was a bear and they were dinner. “Loner’s got himself a little buddy!”

“Rich,” Michael bit out between his teeth, “now’s not the best time. Come on, Jeremy.” Michael tugged on Jeremy’s arm and Jeremy followed. They only got about three steps before Rich was yanking on Jeremy’s other arm.

“Hey, I didn’t say you could go, tall-ass!” Rich yelled. Jeremy cried out in pain. Rich grabbed the front of Jeremy’s shirt, balling it up in his fist. He had to go in his tiptoes shut to glare in Jeremy’s eyes, but he was menacing enough that Jeremy didn’t even think to comment on it.

“Leave him alone,” Michael said, his voice thick. His free hand was curled into a fist and he was shaking, like he was half a second away from launching himself at Rich.

“Aw, gonna defend your boyfriend, Michael? How cute.” Rich made an exaggerated pout with his lips before a malicious grin spread over them. He raised a threatening finger at Jeremy, then Michael. “Don’t move.”

The two stood frozen as Rich whipped around them, grabbing at both of their backpacks. After a moment, he came back around to their front.

“You wash those off and you’re dead, you hear me?” He said, his voice low.

“What are you doing now, Rich?” A weirdly familiar voice broke in, just as the bell signaling the end of lunch rang. The three boys turned to see a tall girl with styled curly hair and a Disney jacket approach them. It took Jeremy to recognize her as the girl from the plane. “God, can’t you do anything but beat up losers?”

Rich stammered, clearly unused to girls not appreciating his bravado, and made a weak excuse. He bolted, melting into the crowd of students heading off to class. The girl looked back at Michael and Jeremy, taking her time with Michael.

“So,” she said slowly, a smile on her lips, “Headphone Boy is the boyfriend you were freaking out over? Cute.” Jeremy stammered, trying to correct her, but she just pursed her lips a little. She tapped Jeremy’s nose lightly, affectionately, before sauntering off.

Michael blinked, clearly lost. He dropped Jeremy’s hand as if he’d just realized he was still holding it. “I have so many questions, but the first one is: How the hell do you know Chloe Valentine?”

—

Jeremy sat at the courthouse, his parents on either side of him. His mother was doing something on her phone, completely absorbed and completely ignoring Jeremy. His dad was silent, as well, but Jeremy got the feeling that they were freaking out together, so it wasn’t quite the same. His parents had been in court all day, testifying and going back and forth with their lawyers. Jeremy had no idea what had transpired, but the air was tight and full of tension.

Jeremy’s red backpack sat by his feet, the black BOYF present and bold for the entire world to see. Michael’s had read RIENDS, so that when they stood in the order that they had been, it spelled out BOYFRIENDS. Which wouldn’t have sucked so much if that wasn’t exactly what Jeremy had wanted to be (also if Rich hadn’t done it as an insult, but Jeremy chose not to think about that right then).

He and Michael were texting. Michael was still flummoxed that Jeremy had known Chloe, who was apparently the hottest and most popular girl in school. He still couldn’t believe that Chloe had not only remembered Jeremy, but had taken it upon herself to intervene when Rich had bullied them.

 **Player One** : sorry again about rich. he’s a dick

 **Me** : dude u have nothing to be sorry for

 **Player One** : i unleashed him onto you

 **Me** : he’s no worse than my old school’s bully so i’ts w/e

 **Player One** : it’s not whatever jeremy!! he hurt you and it’s all my fault

 **Player One** : i’ll understand if you don’t want to be around me at school anymore

 **Player One** : hell i’d get it if you didn’t want to stay at my house anymore

 **Player One** : if rich finds out about that he’ll have a field day

Jeremy’s heart sunk into his stomach. He hurried to reply, feeling like shit that he’d somehow allowed Michael to think any of those things could possibly be true.

 **Me** : dude no!!

 **Me** : don’t let that asshole get to u

 **Me** : ur my best friend ever and of course i still wanna hang w u at school

 **Me** : rich would have to kill me before i’d stop hanging w u

 **Player One** : and staying at my house? what if he finds out?

Jeremy slumped his shoulders.

“Everything alright?” Dad whispered, nudging him lightly in the ribs.

“Don’t talk to him!” Jeremy’s mom was quick to hiss, shooting daggers with her eyes at her ex-husband. “I don’t want you putting any more toxic ideas into his head.”

“Mrs. Heere?” Dad’s lawyer was sitting nearby, keeping an eye on the situation as the judge was prepped for their case. “Is there a problem?”

“Yes,” Jeremy’s mom said testily. “Don’t act like you can’t hear what’s going on twenty feet away.”

Yikes. Jeremy felt like he needed to fix this situation somehow, so he stood up abruptly. 

“I’m, uh, going to the bathroom.” His dad stood up, and Jeremy knew he was going to come along. “Alone. I need a minute.” Hopefully without him right there, his mom would keep her head.

He hid out in the one person, unisex bathroom and texted Michael back.

 **Me** : do u want me to stay somewhere else? i can stay w my dad and just not tell mom it’ll be fine 

**Me** : i don’t wanna impose on u

 **Player One** : i just don’t want rich to bully you bc of me

 **Player One** : but i want you to stay. with me.

 **Player One** : i’m being selfish sorry

 **Me** : stop saying ur selfish when we literally want the same thing!!

 **Me** : and if he finds out, he won’t do anything that i can’t handle

The little … appeared under Michael’s side as he typed. It went on for a while, which meant that Michael was either typing a really long paragraph or else he couldn’t think of what to say to that. There was a soft knock on the bathroom door.

“Jeremy?” It was Dad’s lawyer, his friend named Elliot. “If you’re ready, the judge wants to see us now.”

Jeremy pocketed his phone, silently apologizing to Michael for not being able to finish their conversation, and exited the bathroom. Both of his parents were standing, waiting for him to walk inside of the courtroom. His mom, who had looked so irate and bitchy two minutes ago, was now looking like a perfect angel. All an act for the judge, Jeremy knew. He took his place in between his parents and his mom placed her hand on the back of his neck. It made him shiver uncomfortably.

The judge was an imposing figure sitting up in his platform, wearing a black robe and a grim expression.

They all took a seat at the table in front of him. Jeremy was in the middle, his dad to his right and his mother to his left. Their lawyers sat on the other side of their respective clients.

“Jeremy Heere,” the judge read off from his papers, “son of Steven and Heather Heere-”

“Pritchett,” Jeremy’s mom cut in. “After the divorce, I went back to my maiden name.”

The judge did not look amused. He continued to read off his paper, citing that Heather Heere (he made a point to call her Heere, much to Jeremy’s delight) unlawfully took Jeremy as a child.

“Your divorce wasn’t even finalized,” the judge stated blandly. “I suppose you knew you’d have to fight for custody if it was?” He gave Jeremy’s mom a dirty look. She tried her best not to look murderous, but she failed. Jeremy nudged Dad’s leg gently, in solidarity, and his dad nudged back. This was already going their way.

The judge spoke some more, using more legal jargon than Jeremy could follow. Finally, he asked Jeremy’s parents to step out of the room.

“Why?” Jeremy’s mother asked. “He can say anything in front of me. I’m his mother,” she said, as if reminding him. “I’ve been there for everything. Of course he’s not uncomfortable speaking in front of me. Right, Jeremy?”

Jeremy shifted uncomfortably in his seat and looked up to his dad for help.

“Ah, Heather, why don’t we just do what the judge says,” Dad said, trying to keep his voice civil. “Jeremy deserves privacy.”

Jeremy’s mother could tell this would paint her as the bad guy if she pushed it, so she made a show of kissing Jeremy on the top of his head before walking out the door. Jeremy quickly rubbed where she’d kissed, as if he could wipe it away.

“Good luck,” Dad said softly. Jeremy tried for a smile, but his stomach was turning so bad he thought he might be sick.

Soon it was just the judge and Jeremy. Jeremy felt incredibly small, looking up at Judge Howard from his seat.

“Jeremy,” Judge Howard said, sounding much kinder than he had before, “there’s no reason to be nervous. I just want to hear your side of the story and to find out what you want. You’re old enough to help make this decision.”

“I want to live with my dad,” Jeremy blurted out. “I- I want it more than anything. The two weeks I spent with him last month were better than the past sixteen years with my mom all put together.”

The judge listened quietly as everything came tumbling out of Jeremy’s mouth. He found he couldn’t stop talking once he’d started. He told the judge about the lack of food in the house and how he’d go weeks at a time without ever seeing his mother. How she never cared how awful school was or paid attention to the things he was interested in. How he always felt he had to walk on eggshells around her. 

“Please don’t make me stay with her,” he said finally, voice breaking. Tears had long been streaming down his cheeks, but he made no move to wipe them away. “I can’t take it anymore.”

“I can see that,” Judge Howard said kindly. “But is your father’s the best place to go?”

Jeremy nodded. “I think so. I was prepared- I was ready to move with him if it was even the slightest bit better than at my mom’s. But it’s more than that. It’s so much better! It’s shocking, actually, to actually have a parent that checks on you and makes sure you’re okay and even takes the initiative to make sure I don’t fall behind in school! It’s so… alien to me, because my mom’s never been like that.”

Judge Howard nodded. “Then I think I have my verdict. Bailiff, you can call the parents back inside.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yikes this chapter is a full 2k longer than any of the others.... I put waaay too much plot in this! I hope you still like it anyway and hold out for the next chapter- it's gonna be so, so good!


	8. Confrontations and a New Start

Jeremy’s mother had been completely hellish since the judge gave his verdict, declaring that Dad had full custody of Jeremy. She threw a literal fit in the middle of the courthouse, as if that were going to convince the judge that she was the better parent.

“You’re lucky I’m not sending you to jail,” Judge Howard had told Heather when she’d tried to object. “With how much you’d neglected that poor boy, it would be easy. So I suggest you shut your mouth and accept it.”

Heather had restrained herself enough to ask if she had visitation rights, only to lose it completely when the judge laughed right in her face. She wasn’t in a very pleasant mood once that was all said and done.

She’d been so awful that Jeremy and his dad had barely had a chance to celebrate. She decided she wanted Jeremy’s phone, claiming it belonged to her since she’d paid for it. She said the same about his laptop.

“They were expensive and he doesn’t even appreciate my generosity,” Heather snapped. She all but ripped the phone out of Jeremy’s grasp. He did his best not to look as upset as he felt. Hey, he was a teenager! His electronics were important to him.

“That’s fine,” Dad said, all pretense of tolerating Heather out the door. “I can buy him new ones. He doesn’t need an old, cracked phone anyway.”

“Uh, Dad?” Jeremy said quietly, turning to try to keep his mom from hearing. “There stuff on my phone and laptop that I need.”

“Don’t worry,” Dad said lowly. “I’ll make sure to get everything off of them.”

“I want the laptop. Now.” Heather said, crossing her arms over her chest.

“It’s at Michael’s,” Jeremy mumbled. Heather raised her eyebrows.

“I don’t care where it is,” she insisted. “It’s mine and I want it _now_.”

“You know what,” Dad said, cutting in. He moved so his large body was blocking Jeremy from his mother’s sight. “You don’t get to boss him around and treat him like garbage anymore. I’ll get you the damn laptop, now calm the fuck-”

“Actually,” Jeremy interrupted, an idea sprouting in his mind, “we could go to Michael’s right now. All of us.”

“What?” Dad asked. He tried to read what Jeremy was thinking in his eyes, but they just sparkled. 

“Trust me,” Jeremy mouthed silently. Out loud, he said, “Is that alright with you, Mom?”

“It’s Heather,” she snapped. “You are no longer my son.”

Uh, ouch. Jeremy tried to not let that bother him, but it still got under his skin. She was his mom, why couldn’t she just love him like moms were supposed to?

“Well, uh, let’s go then,” Jeremy said, faltering a little.

“Are you sure, Jeremy?” Dad asked. “If I were you, I’d want to keep her far away from my friends.”

Jeremy nodded. “I’m sure.”

Heather climbed into her rental car and immediately started honking, as if that would get Dad and Jeremy into the car and out of the parking lot any faster. The two shared a disdainful look and climbed into Dad’s Escape. Jeremy fiddled with the radio, already missing the playlists from Michael that were on his phone.

Michael’s house was only about a twenty minute drive from the courthouse, but it felt like an eternity. Finally, though, they pulled into the driveway behind Stacy’s car and parked. Jeremy climbed out and waited until Heather rolled down her window, looking impatient.

“Well, go get it,” she said, waving a hand dismissively at him. He thought hard for a moment how he could pull this off when the front door opened.

“Jer?” Michael called. He stepped outside, pulling his hoodie close. “Dude, how’d it go?” He bounded down the icy steps before he realized Heather was sitting in her car. 

“Uh, Michael, this is my- Heather. This is Heather.” Jeremy said, awkwardly waving at his mother. Michael’s face cooled instantly, glaring at the woman. She scoffed a little.

“Laptop, Jeremy. I don’t have all day, you know.” She ran a hand through her hair, fixing it. “ _I’m_ not the deadbeat.”

“Excuse me?” Dad said, face growing red. Michael balled his hands into fists. Jeremy placed one hand on both of their chests, trying to keep them calm.

“What’s everyone doing out here?” Alina asked, poking her head out the door. She beamed when she saw Jeremy. She turned back to the house. “Stacy! Jeremy’s back.”

“Ooh, how’d court go?” Stacy asked, hurrying out the door and past her wife. She stopped short when she spotted Heather. “Is that…?” Her voice trailed off.

“Mrs. Heere?” Stacy asked, her voice icy. Alina’s demeanor changed instantly as well, her smile sliding into a scowl.

“Heather,” she corrected, mirroring Stacy’s glare with one of her own. There was a pause and Michael took a step closer to Jeremy, hands brushing lightly. A warning. 

And then the dam broke.

“WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?” Stacy shouted, storming right up to Heather’s open window. “WHAT KIND OF PERSON- NO, WHAT KIND OF _MOTHER_ TREATS A CHILD LIKE YOU’VE TREATED JEREMY?”

Alina hopped right in, apparently not satisfied sitting by while her wife ripped Heather a new one. “YOU SELF-ABSORBED, NEGLIGENT, PIECE OF UTTER SHIT…”

“HORRIBLE PERSON…”

“YOU DESERVE TO GO TO JAIL FOR HOW YOU TREATED THAT POOR BOY…”

“YOU EVER COME NEAR HIM AGAIN AND I WILL END YOU. DO YOU HEAR ME?”

“YOU BETTER HOPE I NEVER SEE YOUR SORRY ASS AGAIN…”

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!” They shouted in unison, both of their faces bright red from screaming. Jeremy, Michael, and Dad all just sort of stood on the side, gaping, as Stacy and Alina let Heather have it.

Heather, clearly shaken and scared, scrambled to put her car in reverse and Stacy continued to shout and Alina repeatedly slapped the rental car, saying “Get the fuck out! Get the _fuck_ out!” “Uh, Heather?” Jeremy called teasingly. He jutted his thumb towards the house. “Don’t you want the laptop?” Heather sent him a crazed look and flew out of the driveway and down the street, blowing through the stop sign without slowing down a bit.

Dad and Michael were speechless, staring at the women in awe as they panted and tried to calm down.

Alina still looked like a vein in her forehead was about to burst. “That lowlife, fucking bitch, I’ll kill her, I’ll…”

Jeremy felt completely and utterly happy. There was no other word that so clearly described how he felt as Alina and Stacy continued to bitch about his mother, both so full of love for him that he could have screamed.

He stepped away from his dad and Michael and grabbed Alina, pulling her into a tight hug. He held out a hand to Stacy and she joined in. The two of them held him close and tight, just like he liked.

“Thanks,” he said lowly, voice thick with emotion. He tried to pour everything he felt into the hug, to convey what he couldn't through words. “Thank you for caring.” 

“Of course,” Alina murmured, patting his hair down lovingly.

“Always,” Stacy added, kissing his cheek.

Once they were done hugging, Dad suggested they all go out to eat to celebrate.

“So, you got custody?” Michael asked. Alina snorted.

“I sure as hell hope so, considering we just sent _her_ ass running.”

Stacy suggested a Mexican place on the other side of town and everyone agreed. Alina and Stacy ran inside to get their coats and purses while Michael grabbed Jeremy and pulled him into a tight hug. They stayed like that for a while, until Dad coughed lightly to remind them that he was still there.

They pulled apart, both blushing deeply. Jeremy took an extra step away from Michael to regain his self control, making sure not to look at Michael when he glanced over.

“Was that your plan, son?” Dad asked after an awkward moment. Jeremy nodded, grateful for a change in subject.

“Yeah. I mean, I wasn’t quite expecting all that,” he waved his hand vaguely where Heather’s car had been, “but I figured they’d have a few words for Mom.”

“You devious bastard,” Michael said with admiration.

—

Dinner was great. It might have been the best meal Jeremy had ever had in his life, even if he wasn’t the biggest fan of Mexican. Everyone was happy and the mood was just so light! Alina even let Michael and Jeremy have a sip of her margarita when Stacy went to the bathroom. Dad pretended not to notice, but he did send Jeremy a wink after his sip (Jeremy decided he didn’t really like margaritas all that much, but he liked the idea of drinking).

Jeremy ended up back at Michael’s house for the night. Between the lawyers and his father, Jeremy was to fly back to Michigan in the morning, pack up the rest of his room, and drive back to New Jersey with all of his belongings with his father the next day. Jeremy was half tempted to just leave all of his stuff behind, since he really didn’t want to go back, but he knew he needed to go. He was already hoping against hope that his mother wouldn’t be there when he arrived.

It was kind of odd, how fast everything had moved. None of them had expected the judge to come to his verdict so quickly. Jeremy had thought he’d have a week at school with Michael, and yet he only got one day. He almost thought it was pointless, but getting a feel for his new school was good either way. Plus, he’d gotten to spend the whole day with Michael. That was always a plus.

He was almost upset he didn’t get more time to stay at Michael’s house, but he reminded himself that once he lived in New Jersey, they could have sleepovers whenever they wanted.

Jeremy found himself laying back on the couch in the basement, watching as Michael played Galaga: Destination Earth on his old Playstation. Michael was sitting on one of the beanbags, right in front of the couch. The mood had slowly died down from the elation it had been at dinner to something more comforting and normal. It felt like it did whenever Jeremy sat alone in his room in Michigan, talking with Michael on Tumblr. Like home.

Michael was sitting right in front of Jeremy, his head practically lolling back on the couch as he played. It was an easy level, as most tended to be on such old games, so Michael was relaxing as he played. A small smile formed on Jeremy’s lips. This was going to become a regular thing. They were gonna hang in Michael’s basement, or maybe even in Jeremy’s new room, and play video games and do homework and just hang out. This was gonna be his life soon, and he just couldn’t believe it. He felt so lucky. 

So, you know, he just _had_ to do something to mess it up. Because that’s just who Jeremy was as a person.

Jeremy was feeling a little lazy, too, so maybe that had something to do with it. But, without even making the conscious decision to do it, Jeremy’s hand reached out and he ran his fingers gently through Michael’s hair. His hair was soft, maybe in the need of a wash, but nice. 

The effect was immediate. Michael seized up, fingers freezing on the controller. His character died within five heavy seconds, tension building so quickly in the room that Jeremy thought he would choke on it.

“A-ah, Micah,” Jeremy cried when he realized that he’d made it weird again. He pulled his hand back and cradled it against his chest as if he’d burned it. “Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that.”

Michael turned to look at him, his cheeks blazing red. He looked at Jeremy’s face, then his gaze flicked down to his hand, and then back up. Repeat. It was like his brain wasn’t able to comprehend how weird Jeremy had just been.

“Sorry,” Jeremy said again, his breath quickening. He had nowhere to run. He couldn’t go back to his dad’s house so late (there was no way he’d get past both Alina and Stacy, and they would both stop him, no doubt about that). He entertained the idea of hiding out in the bathroom, but that would just make it worse. Oh god. “I really didn’t mean-” He broke off, not even knowing what to say. How do you talk yourself out of something like this? 

Michael’s shoulder’s eased and a somewhat forced smile appeared on his lips. His cheeks did not lose their color, Jeremy noticed. “Dude, it’s fine. Little weird, but fine. I was just surprised, okay?”

“Um, okay?” Jeremy said uncertainly, not really believing him. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Michael insisted, waving it off like it was nothing. Right. Because it _was_ nothing to him.

“Yeah, okay,” Jeremy muttered, feeling kind of bitter. He knew he shouldn’t, that it wasn’t Michael’s fault Jeremy’s feelings were unrequited, but he did. “Whatever.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Michael asked. He turned fully in his beanbag chair so he could look up at Jeremy. Jeremy felt like he had a spotlight on him and he really didn’t like it. The happy, comfortable feeling was long gone.

Jeremy shifted in his seat, looking anywhere but Michael’s face. “Nothing. Just- go back to the game.”

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Michael asked. He placed a hand on Jeremy’s knee. “Did I do something?”

Jeremy ran his fingers through his own hair, pulling extra hard on the ends. He liked running his fingers through Michael’s hair better. “No, you didn’t do anything. It’s just me. Just ignore me, okay?”

“No, not okay,” Michael insisted. He looked like he was really getting worked up, which was the opposite of what Jeremy wanted. Now on top of everything else, he felt bad for upsetting Michael. “You’re upset. Are- are you upset to be moving here?”

“What? No!” Jeremy said. He moved his knee so Michael’s hand fell to the couch. “I’m so happy and excited to be moving here, I swear.”

“I mean,” Michael said slowly, looking down at his lap. He tugged at a loose string on his sweatpants. “I wouldn't blame you if you didn’t want to live so close to me. I’m cooler online, I know. Being in person kind of ruins the illusion I put online.” He gave a little laugh, like it was a joke or something, but Jeremy could tell that he really thought it was true.

“Dude, you’re so much cooler in real life. You’re so much… _better_. You being here is literally half the reason I wanna be here,” Jeremy said earnestly. Any feelings of bitterness dissipated, overwhelmed by the need to show Michael how amazing he was. Because was so amazing and it was a crime if he didn’t know it. Michael wouldn’t look at him. Jeremy reached out and grabbed Michael’s shoulder. “I’m serious. If anything, being here’s made me like you even _more_.” He took a deep breath, knowing this would change everything, and probably not in a good way. “Maybe… maybe too much.”

“Wait, what?” Michael said, head snapping up in alarm. “What do you mean, too much?!”

Jeremy flushed all the way down his neck and up his ears, but knew he needed to finish what he started. He tugged harshly at the ends of his sleeves as he spoke. “I literally kissed you, man. For, like, a full minute. I would have thought that made my feelings pretty damn clear.”

“You freaked out and ran away after, though,” Michael pointed out. His voice was getting higher, sounding more and more distressed as he went on. “Seemed like you didn’t like the kiss very much.”

“I was freaking out!” Jeremy protested, jumping up from the couch. Michael scrambled his feet so they were both standing face to face. “I kissed you for, like, a minute and you just sat there! You didn’t do anything so I thought you didn’t like it and I bolted! And then you didn’t even say anything about it, so I figured you wanted to pretend it never happened.”

“I was in shock! The guy I’ve been crushing on for _months_ kissed me out of nowhere, I didn’t know what to do!”

“Kiss back, for starters,” Jeremy retorted hotly, before pausing. “Wait, you’ve been crushing on me for months?”

Michael blinked. “Uh, yeah? I kinda thought it was obvious?”

“Uh, no? It wasn’t, like, at all! I’ve been crushing on you for who-knows-how-long now, and you’ve liked me the whole time?” The two boys stood, looking at each other carefully, as if they were afraid the other was playing a cruel prank.

“I guess so.” 

“So,” Jeremy said slowly, “I like you, and you like me?”

Michael nodded. A small smile began to grow on his lips. “I can’t believe you actually like me. I mean, I’m just me. And you’re…” He gestured vaguely at Jeremy as if it explained it all, which is most certainly did not. He started to pace a little and Jeremy got the feeling he was thinking out loud more than talking to Jeremy. “I just- Oh my god. My mom totally called this. She totally called that you liked me. I told her she was nuts- but here we are! Oh, she’s never gonna let me live this down.” The smile never left Michael’s lips as he spoke. 

Jeremy found himself starting to smile, too. Michael liked him. _Michael liked him_! It was an impossible dream come true.

“Your mom knew that I like you?” Jeremy asked, smile evident even in his voice. Michael nodded, looking back at him with shining eyes.

“Yeah, Stacy. She said it was obvious and I was stupid for not seeing it.” Jeremy shrugged, scratching the back of his head lightly.

“I mean, she did catch you straddling me, so…” Michael’s jaw dropped.

“Hey! All’s fair in tickle wars!” Michael declared, poking Jeremy in the chest. “And hey, she could have walked in on us making out.” Jeremy groaned.

“I would have died right there if she had,” he said. Michael laughed a little and Jeremy joined in. Michael looked him up and down softly. Jeremy shifted a little, uncomfortable at being on display. Michael reached out silently, tentatively, and took Jeremy’s hand. He went slow, giving Jeremy plenty of time to pull away. 

But Jeremy was right where he wanted to be. There was, quite literally, nowhere else in the world he would rather be than right there in Michael’s basement.

Sounding more confident than he looked, Michael said, “I think I owe you a kiss, yeah?”

Jeremy licked his lips instinctively. “I mean, that seems only fair,” he replied, his voice dropping to a whisper. Like if he spoke any louder, Michael would go running. Michael nodded to himself, taking in a slow, deep breath.

Their kiss was soft and uncertain at first. Michael wasn’t quite sure how to angle his face and the corner of his glasses dug into Jeremy’s cheek a little. His lips ghosted over Jeremy’s, brushing lightly. Jeremy held completely still, letting Michael take the lead. He’d already had his first kiss with Michael. This was Michael’s turn.

Michael held onto Jeremy’s hand like it was a lifeline, squeezing tight as he stepped closer. He pressed their chests together at the same time as their lips. Jeremy’s restraint broke and his free hand came up and into Michael’s hair, burying deep like he’d wanted to do before.

It was perfect. It was sloppy, there was a little too much tongue, and Jeremy was sure to have a small bruise on his cheek from Michael’s glasses, but it was absolutely perfect. 

They finally pulled apart, both panting slightly. Their noses were ones centimeters apart.

“That one was a lot better,” Jeremy commented. He’d tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice just sounded wrecked. Michael smiled lazily.

“We could try again?” He suggested. “You know, for practice.”

Jeremy grabbed him by the cheeks and pulled him in.

—

There was nothing better on this earth than kissing Michael Mell, that much Jeremy was certain. How had he gone sixteen years without it? He couldn’t be sure.

It was the next morning and the two of them were sitting on the couch. Jeremy was practically in Michael’s lap (Michael seemed determine to get Jeremy in his lap and Jeremy was determined to get Michael in his, but Michael was stronger, so Jeremy was losing that battle). They’d long since abandoned whichever video game Michael had put in, more for show than anything. They’d started out cuddling on the couch and playing, but soon enough they were making out.

They’d gone to sleep very late the night before, thanks to all the kissing, and Jeremy’s dad would be there any minute to take him to the airport, but they couldn’t find it in them to part.

Jeremy’s phone was loud and annoying when it began to rang. Jeremy pulled back from Michael, turning to reach over and pick it up.

“Jer,” Michael whined. “Come back.” Jeremy laughed a little, answering the phone.

“Hey, Dad,” he said, putting a little extra emphasis on ‘Dad’ to tell Michael to behave. Michael rolled his eyes and contented himself with holding Jeremy’s hips and rubbing his thumbs soothingly. It kind of turned Jeremy on more than he wanted to admit.

“Hey, I’m outside. You’re ready to go, aren’t you?” Dad asked. Jeremy’s eyes widened and he looked over at his pile of junk, strewn all around the basement.

“Uh, yeah, I’m totally ready to go,” he lied. Michael made a face, like he knew Jeremy was in some deep shit. “I just gotta get dressed.”

“Okay, but you need to hurry if you want to grab breakfast on the way,” Dad said before hanging up. Jeremy scrambled off of Michael.

“Shit!” He cried, grabbing a pile of his clothes and stuffing it into his suitcase. “Shit, shit, shit.”

“Jer, calm down,” Michael said, a laugh in his voice. He helped collect Jeremy’s things, haphazardly stuffing whatever he could into the suitcase. Jeremy would be leaving it with Dad, but he still needed to get the stuff out of Michael’s house. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.” 

On cue, Jeremy tripped over his own shoes and tumbled to the ground. He popped back up, unharmed. “I gotta be out that door in, like, two minutes. I don’t have time to calm down.”

Michael grabbed his arm, pausing the frantic search. “Hey, it’s okay. You can get this stuff later if you need to.” He placed a hand on Jeremy’s cheek. Unable to help himself, Jeremy leaned in and kissed Michael yet again.

He didn’t make it out the door until his dad called again, ten minutes later. Oh well, he could grab food at the airport.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, this was hard to write! I hope it turned out okay and you liked how it all went down. Also, sorry for all the italics, but it was necessary, okay?? Only one chapter left, though, which is just nuts. Seriously, thank you all for your kind words and for sticking with this story! I really hope it doesn't disappoint.


	9. Legend of Zelda

Jeremy marveled at his new cell phone almost the entire drive back to New Jersey. He’d never had a brand new one before, only cheap ones his mom had found online, so it was a whole new experience. He’d gotten to choose the color of the iPhone and everything! He’d gone for black all around, which he thought looked the nicest. His dad had made him promise not to crack the screen on this one.

“I’ll do my best,” Jeremy said, using his go-to phrase for promising something without really promising it. Dad didn’t realize that, though, so he accepted it, no problem.

The drive was long, there was no doubt about that. They had rented a big U-Haul, which was so awkward to drive that Dad wasn’t giving Jeremy the chance. So that meant Dad was stuck doing the ten hour drive on his own. Jeremy had taken it upon himself to keep him alert by talking the entire way. He wasn’t sure he’d ever talked so much in his entire life. His voice was starting to get hoarse.

Packing up the rest of his bedroom hadn’t been fun. His mom actually tried to prevent him from entering her house and threatened to call the police on him. Every bit of confidence Alina and Stacy’s protection had given him shriveled to almost nothing when it was just Jeremy and Heather. He’d managed to slip past her (benefits of the two of them both being small) and into his room before she could stop him. She screamed the entire time and he just threw things haphazardly into boxes, not even caring where anything landed. He wished his dad had been on the same flight, but his wouldn’t land until that evening. That’s what they got for booking so last minute, though.

But finally, they were on their way back to New Jersey, leaving Michigan behind for good. Jeremy had never felt so freed.

“So,” Dad asked, a few hours into the trip. Jeremy took the opportunity to take a long sip of his slurpee, soothing his throat. “Are you excited? New school, new you, and all that.”

Jeremy shrugged, swallowing the cherry ice. “I mean, school is school. I’m still me, anyway. But, yeah, I’m excited. I have Michael now.”

Dad cleared his throat, adjusting his grip on the steering wheel slightly. “Yeah, about Michael. I’ve been meaning to ask, but I didn’t want to pry…” He trailed off, looking at Jeremy like he should know where this conversation was going. Jeremy shrugged again, shaking his head.

“What about him?” He asked. Absentmindedly, he chewed on his straw a little as he drank more of his slurpee. He wasn’t the biggest fan of cherry, but they’d been out of blue raspberry at the last rest stop, so he’d taken what he could.

“Well, I just, I mean,” Dad said, stumbling over his words. Jeremy raised his eyebrows, really not getting where this was going. “You two just seem really close. Is all.”

“We are,” Jeremy said slowly.

“And I just thought maybe, that you might be, I don’t know, more than friends?” Dad asked uncertainly, hunching his shoulders like he was bracing for Jeremy to attack. Instead, Jeremy just grew red, mirroring his father’s own flushed face.

Jeremy’s gaze dropped and he picked at a frayed piece of leather on the seat. “I mean, maybe,” he mumbled, feeling increasingly embarrassed. God, he didn’t want to talk boys with his dad!

Dad relaxed a little when he saw that Jeremy wasn’t mad at the assumption. “Okay. Good. Michael seems to be good for you, so that’s good. It’s…”

“Good?” Jeremy supplied unhelpfully. His dad sent him a playful glare, though on such a big man it still looked kind of intimidating.

“Very funny,” he said drily. “I just wanted to know if we needed to have, you know, the _talk_.” He looked as uncomfortable as Jeremy felt hearing those words.

“What? No!” Jeremy cried, horrified. He squeezed his slurpee cup too tight and the top popped off, sending the drink everywhere. “Gah, shit!” Jeremy scrambled to find the access napkins inside the bag from McDonald’s and quickly sopped up the red mess, though he didn’t think it’d be coming out of his white T-shirt anytime soon. He apologized quickly for making a mess, but his dad waved it off easily. Unfortunately for Jeremy, Dad seemed set on having this super-awkward conversation right then. In a car, where they would both be stuck for another six hours. Joy.

After a quiet moment, Dad continued, much to Jeremy’s embarrassment. “I just want to make sure you two are, you know, safe.” Jeremy groaned.

“Dad, please-”

“I mean, there are things that teenage boys like to do,” Dad pressed on, his red cheeks and ears the only indication that he was just as horrified as Jeremy, “and when you have a boyfriend, it just tends to…. accelerate.”

Jeremy popped the lid back on his cup with some difficulty, frowning. “I don’t think Michael’s my boyfriend, Dad.”

“I thought you said you were more than friends?” Dad asked. “Doesn’t that mean he’s your boyfriend?”

Jeremy chewed on his straw again, mind whirring. “I don’t know? I mean, we like each other and we’ve… um… kissed and stuff but he never said anything about actually being boyfriends?” Would Michael want to date Jeremy? Being his (best) friend was one thing and yeah, kissing was another… But boyfriend? That was serious. Maybe Michael didn’t want serious.

“You should ask him,” Dad said sagely, as if it were the obvious answer. “I’m sure he’ll say yes.”

“You think?” Jeremy asked doubtfully, already stewing in his own insecurity.

“I’ve seen the way he looks at you, Jeremy,” Dad said, giving him a little bit of a side-eye. “He wants to be your boyfriend. Or, is it that you don’t want to be his?”

“I do!” Jeremy said quickly, knowing it was true. He wanted to be Michael’s boyfriend more than he could even understand. “But, like, isn’t it hard? Going from friends to more?”

Dad was quiet, which was answer enough. Yes, yes it was hard.

“You should talk to him, Jeremy. You’ll get better answers from Michael than you will from me.”

—

Jeremy was taking his time unpacking his things in his new room. It was the next day and he was counting down the hours until Michael was out of school for the day. He and Dad had hit some traffic and hadn’t gotten back to Red Bank until late the night before, so he hadn’t seen Michael in a few days. He was itching to see him. 

Dad’s words echoed in his head. He knew he needed to talk to Michael, to see if they could define their relationship, but he was nervous. His anxiety seemed to be physically twisting his insides, convincing him that Michael wouldn’t want to date him.

He knew it was illogical, but he couldn’t help it. So, to pass the time and to occupy his mind, he was taking his time unpacking his room. It was quite a journey, since most of his things had been packed to haphazardly. Each box was an eclectic mix of his possessions, so he never really knew what he was gonna pull out next. It was almost like opening birthday presents, but he already owned everything.

It worked, for the most part. His mind continued to wander, mostly to Michael but also to other things, like school and his mom. He hated that he cared what his mom thought of him, that he was hurt by her shunning him completely, but he did and he was. It was his mom, for goodness’ sake. He shook his head and tried to think about something else as he hooked up his gaming consoles to his TV.

The time passed quicker than he thought, though, and soon there was a knock at the door. Jeremy jumped to his feet, knowing it was Michael at the door. He glanced around the room, trying to discern if anything super embarrassing was showing. Satisfied that there was nothing, he ran down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

He opened the door to see Michael practically bouncing where he stood. Jeremy broke out into a grin, always so happy to see his favorite person in the world.

“Micah!” He cried. Michael was on him in a second, kissing him hard on the mouth right in the doorway. Jeremy stumbled back and Michael followed. Somehow the door got shut behind them and they stood in the entry way, making out, for a good few minutes. Finally (far too soon), Michael pulled back.

“Have I told you how much I love it when you call me that?” Michael asked breathlessly. Jeremy raised his eyebrows.

“You do?” He asked. “It’s just a nickname.” Michael smiled a little, looking at Jeremy adoringly, and gave a half-shrug.

“Yeah, but it’s one you gave me,” he explained. “No one else has ever called me it. It’s yours.”

Jeremy’s cheeks turned pink. “Oh.”

Michael hugged him and Jeremy folded up, loving the feeling of being held. Michael even went up on his tiptoes so he could rest his chin on the top of Jeremy’s head. They stayed like that for a minute, just being together, and Jeremy thought he could stay like that forever.

Once Michael pulled away, falling back so he stood normally, Jeremy grabbed his hand. “You wanna see my room?” He asked. Michael raised an eyebrow suggestively. Jeremy blushed hard. He pushed Michael lightly in the chest. “Not like that, you perv!”

“I think you’re the perv, Jer,” Michael said, laughing as Jeremy started to pull him up the stairs. “I’ve been here two minutes and you’re already trying to get me into your bedroom.”

“Micah,” Jeremy whined, pausing outside of his door. Michael pouted at him.

“Aw,” he said in a baby voice, “am I embarrassing you?” He laughed back, pulling Jeremy close by the waist. “You’re only embarrassed ‘cause it’s true!”

Jeremy kept quiet, wriggling in Michael’s grasp. He’d never say it, but he loved how affectionate Michael had become once they confessed to each other. It was almost like they’d gone from awkward confessions to being a long-term couple. You know, despite the fact that they weren’t officially dating. Right, Jeremy had almost forgotten that he needed to bring that up.

“Maybe,” Jeremy said eventually and Michael let out a small noise, surprised that Jeremy would admit it. 

“R-really?” Michael asked, suddenly nervous. Jeremy smiled a little. It was clearly one thing to tease Jeremy about something like sex, but another altogether to have it be an actual possibility. Jeremy leaned up and kissed Michael softly on the cheek.

“Not right now, but yeah,” he said honestly. “That okay?”

Michael gulped visibly. “Uh, yeah. More than okay.”

“Good.”

Jeremy led Michael into his bedroom. There wasn’t a whole lot to see, to be honest. It was just his bed, which was covered in throw blankets (Dad had said they would go get a real bedding set in the next few days), a desk with a shelf for his (few) books, and a dresser full of clothes. He hadn’t gotten around to putting his posters up yet, so the walls were all pretty bare.

“It’s nice,” Michael said. “Kinda small. You have a Gamecube?” Of course Michael’s attention went straight to the gaming consoles. Jeremy shrugged.

“I’ve got some great Gamecube games,” he replied. “Gale of Darkness, Ocarina of Time-”

“You have Ocarina of Time?!” Michael shrieked, whipping around to look at Jeremy. Jeremy jumped at his shout, not expecting such a strong reaction. 

“Um, yeah?” Jeremy said. “I’ve had it since, like, the third grade.”

“I’ve been looking for Ocarina of Time for forever,” Michael said, running a hand through his hair. “It’s super hard to find and anytime you do, they always want crazy amounts of money for it. I had it when I was a kid, but Alina accidentally sold it in a yard sale. I cried for days, ‘cause it was my favorite game. I haven’t been able to find it since.”

“Do you wanna play it?” Jeremy offered. “The Gamecube’s all set up and everything.”

“I- we don’t have to,” Michael said, though it was clear he wanted to. “What do you wanna do?”

Jeremy pretended to think about it. “Hmm… We could do homework? Watch reruns of Friends? Those are always playing on some channel. Or…” Michael looked like he was about to explode; he was trying so hard to stay chill! Jeremy burst out laughing. “We can play Ocarina, come on.”

Michael practically squealed, which was so cute it made Jeremy’s heart squeeze. Jeremy set up the game, though the controller’s cord was too short to quite reach the bed. So Michael ended up having to sit in the desk chair right at the edge of the bed and Jeremy sat on the bed behind him, watching as Michael played.

Michael was like a little kid playing Legend of Zelda for the first time. It was honestly adorable. Jeremy didn’t even care that he wasn’t playing at all (it was a one player game). He was perfectly content watching Michael play.

“Sorry,” Michael said after a while, “this must be kinda boring, huh?”

“Not really.” Jeremy was laying on his stomach, chin in his palms. “You’re cute when you play video games.” Michael flushed and pushed the thumbstick so Link walked forward.

“No, I’m not,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, you are,” Jeremy argued lightly. “Your tongue pokes out and just get really into it. It’s adorable.”

“I’m not adorable!” Michael protested. He seemed embarrassed when he realized his tongue was, indeed, poking out between his lips. He retracted it, much to Jeremy’s chagrin. “I’m, like, super manly.”

“You can be manly and adorable.”

“Uh, no you can’t.”

“Sure you can,” Jeremy said. Dramatically, he gestured to himself. “Exhibit A.” He gestured to Michael. “Exhibit B. Point proven.” Michael snorted, but got distracted by on of the Stalchildren, skeleton monsters within the game. Without realizing it, his tongue poked back out in the right corner of his lips. Jeremy smiled to himself.

He would be one lucky guy if Michael wanted to be his boyfriend.

“What are we?” Jeremy asked suddenly. Michael looked over at him, glancing back at the screen to continue his fight. More of the Stalchildren had appeared and were attacking.

“What?” Michael asked, distracted.

“I mean, are we together?” Jeremy asked. He looked down at his hands and picked at his skin lightly. He found that he didn’t want to look at Michael, didn’t want to see if Michael’s response was _no_. 

“I mean, I thought so,” Michael said. He paused the game, which meant it was serious. Jeremy wasn't sure if that made him feel better or not. Jeremy made a point of watching the pause screen and not looking at Michael.

“I mean like _dating_ ,” Jeremy specified. “Like… boyfriends?”

Michael dropped the controller in his lap and turned so he was facing Jeremy head-on.

“I kinda thought we were,” Michael said softly. “Unless- unless you don’t want to be?” Jeremy’s head snapped to look at Michael when he heard the panicked tone in his voice.

“I do!” Jeremy said earnestly. He pushed himself up so he was sitting on his knees. “I do, so much. I just… We never said and I didn’t want to assume that you’d want to…” He trailed off, feeling stupid.

“Hey,” Michael said, reaching a hand out to cradle Jeremy’s cheek softly. He pulled Jeremy in and kissed him. “If I gotta say it, then I’ll say it, okay? I want to be your boyfriend. Do you want to be mine?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy mumbled against Michael’s lips, kissing him again. Somehow, Jeremy ended up in Michael’s lap, with Michael sitting in the desk chair sideways and leaning back against the dresser. It took them a few minutes until they had to pull away, both trying to catch their breath.

Michael chuckled. “You know, this means the Legend of Zelda theme is our song,” he told Jeremy. He nodded to the TV. “The first song you kiss to is your song, so…”

Jeremy groaned, dropping his head into the crook of Michael’s neck. “God, we’re so nerdy.”

—

Jeremy started officially at school the next day. Michael gave him a ride in the PT Cruiser. He refused to play anything but the Legend of Zelda theme the entire way, which made Jeremy shake his head in disbelief.

“This is gonna be stuck in my head all day. You know that, right?” Jeremy asked, exasperated. Michael gave him a cheeky grin, leaning over the center console to give him a quick kiss.

“That’s the point.”

They climbed out of the car and looked up at the school together. It was the start of something new (never mind the High School Musical reference), and Jeremy took a deep breath. He looked at Michael, who was looking back at him. With Michael, he could do this. He knew that for certain. He made a point of slinging his backpack over both of his shoulders. Michael rolled his eyes, but copied him.

Jeremy grabbed Michael’s hand, lacing their fingers together. Pac Man against Pac Man, they stood side by side and walked into school, their backpacks announcing to the entire world that they were BOYF RIENDS.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, this is it! The story is over. I kind of can't believe it. I somehow managed to write a 30k word story in three weeks? I actually completed a multi-chapter fanfiction in a reasonable amount of time? Unheard of.
> 
> Seriously, thank you all so much for loving this story and for all of your comments and kudos. It's made me so happy and is definitely what kept me writing so quickly. You all are the absolute best!
> 
> Also, special thanks to Piper for being my little cheerleader the entire time I've been writing. I literally don't know if I could have finished writing this if it hadn't been for you cheering me on and freaking out to me over every chapter. Thank you so, so much! I really appreciate it more than you could know.


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